Advocates Push for Gender-Inclusive Crash Dummies

Maria Kuhn had a car crash in Ireland. She wondered why her dad and brother were not hurt. They were in the front seats during the crash. Maria and her mom were hurt badly in the back seats. She thought something was wrong with the car safety.

Maria learned that women are often hurt more in car crashes. The car tests use old dummies made like men. These dummies do not show how women get hurt. She found an article about it after returning home. The article was left by her grandmother, clipped from a consumer magazine.

Maria started a group called Drive US Forward. She wants to make people know about this problem. She wants new laws for better car tests. Her group wants dummies that are like women. Then, car tests will show how to protect women better.

Some people want to change the car safety rules. They want to use better dummies for testing cars. These dummies cost more money. A female dummy costs about one million dollars. It shows how women's bodies are different from men's bodies.

Some car companies do not want new dummies. They think the new dummies might make problems seem worse. They say current safety is already good. Maria is sad that it takes a long time to make changes. She wants cars to be safer for all women.