Maria Weston Kuhn’s 2019 car crash in Ireland, which caused serious injuries to her and her mother but not to her father and brother seated in the front, highlighted a critical issue: crash test dummies used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are primarily modeled on male bodies from the 1970s, failing to accurately represent female anatomy. Women are 73% more likely to be injured in frontal crashes, yet the female dummy is just a smaller male model with limited sensors and is rarely tested in the driver’s seat. Kuhn founded the nonprofit Drive US Forward to advocate for updated safety testing that includes advanced female dummies, aiming to influence legislation like the bipartisan “She Drives Act” to require NHTSA to adopt more representative crash test dummies.

Despite support from lawmakers and past transportation secretaries, progress has been slow due to industry resistance and technical challenges. The more sophisticated dummies developed by Humanetics, such as the THOR 50M male and THOR 5F female models, better reflect anatomical differences and injury risks but are costly and met with skepticism by some automakers who fear they may exaggerate risks and undermine current safety features. While NHTSA plans to develop the female THOR dummy, final approval and widespread adoption in the U.S. remain pending, with critics emphasizing the need for reliable data over simply more sensors. Kuhn remains hopeful that engineering advances will eventually lead to safer vehicle designs that better protect women.