The Crash Test Dummy is a calibrated test instrument used to measure human injury potential in vehicle crashes. It simulates human response to impacts, accelerations, deflections, forces and moments generated during a crash. Transducers in the dummy provide the physical levels experienced by the dummy. These readings are controlled and repeatable due to careful dummy design and manufacture so that the vehicle designer may use them to perfect the safety of his product.

 

Data for development of the responses of the crash test dummy has come from human physiological measurements in sub-injury non-lethal crash simulation; from data derived from crash simulations with PMHS (post mortem human subject); from data based on physical properties tests of tissue from PMHS supplemented with data from animals.

 

As an alternative, using human subjects in direct crash testing is not a good approach. Subjects may be injured or killed which is not acceptable on humanitarian grounds. And since the subjects would have varying physiological responses to the crash environment, data collected from live subjects would be highly variable.

 

Thus the crash test dummy representing many sizes and ages and with the capability to be used in different crash orientations offers the vehicle designer a safe, repeatable test instrument for the furthering of transport safety.