Transportation Secretary Slater Announces Proposal for New Small Female Crash Dummy; New Science Will Lead to Improved Air Bag Safety |
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Topics: Rodney E. Slater
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NHTSA
August 31, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 44-98
August 31, 1998
Contact: Tim Hurd
Tel. No. (202) 366-9550
U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater today announced proposed design and performance specifications for a new crash dummy representing small women, one of the key steps in the development of advanced air bag rules.
"Safety is President Clinton's highest transportation priority, and this proposal helps prepare the way for advanced air bags," U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater said. "It continues our comprehensive series of actions to preserve the benefits of air bags and minimize their risks, in this case to small women."
The 5th percentile female dummy with advanced instrumentation, proposed by the department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), is the latest addition to the Hybrid III crash dummy family that began with the 50th percentile Hybrid III male dummy in June 1986. Two months ago, NHTSA proposed a 6-year-old Hybrid III child dummy. Other "family" members will include a Hybrid III 3-year-old and a 12-month-old CRABI (Child Restraint Air Bag Interaction) dummy -- all designed to assess injury potential to a range of occupant sizes.
"Improved safety for smaller women will result from this new scientific tool," said Ricardo Martinez, M.D., NHTSA administrator. "We can better evaluate the effects of air bag deployment and quickly put our new knowledge to work in the real world, making it safer for them."
The 5th percentile female Hybrid III dummy has been used for general research purposes for some time, but the need for its certification for official compliance testing has become more urgent because of safety problems that current air bags may pose for small women who are unbuckled or out of position.
The new 5th percentile female dummy has a multi-segment and highly instrumented neck that makes it better able to mimic human neck responses and measure the injury potential. This is critical because neck injuries are one of the main causes of air bag-related fatalities involving short women. The new dummy also measures chest compression, spinal injury, and seat belt effectiveness.
After extensive testing, NHTSA now is proposing that the 5th percentile female Hybrid III dummy be added to Part 572 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The issue of requiring the use of the new dummy as part of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 will be addressed in the advanced air bag rulemaking.
The proposal for the 5th percentile female Hybrid III dummy will be published in the Federal Register and a drawing package will be placed in NHTSA's docket. Interested parties may comment on the proposal within 90 days of the Federal Register notice.