Sexism also starts in the car. Because when it comes to safety on the road, equality is still far from being achieved. But a major breakthrough should finally restore balance for women.
The world is not always designed for women, but we don’t necessarily realize it. However, from the size of our smartphones to professional security equipment, including public toilets and even medications, the impact of patriarchy is even reflected in our everyday objects, as highlighted in particular by journalist Caroline Criado Perez in her bestseller Invisible women: how the lack of data on women creates a world made for men. And this also involves the design of our cars. Because yes, men and women are far from equal on the road.
Women are, however, less involved in collisions than their male counterparts, but as safety equipment is not adapted to their body shape, they are in fact much more at risk. The reference mannequin used during the tests represents an average male individual measuring 1.70 m and weighing 76 kg. Result: the bodies of women – who are generally placed closer to the steering wheel and pedals, but also lighter and smaller – are therefore not taken into account in official safety measures.
A Swedish engineer had already made progress in the field in 2023, by creating the SET 50F mannequin, which measures 1.62 m and weighs 62 kg. But this “women’s” version had some limitations, since it was more of a reduced model of the men’s version. However, a new invention could well evolve the protocols and correct this error. And it could even push the giants of the automobile sector to review the design of their equipment, such as seat belts or airbags for example, so that they finally adapt to the entire population… and no longer to just one half.
Indeed, at the end of 2025, the American group Humanetics rectified the situation by unveiling THOR-05F, the very first crash test dummy designed from the female anatomy. It has 150 sensors allowing a precise analysis of the consequences in the event of an impact by now taking into account the female morphology, from the chest to the pelvis, also including its unique distribution of masses and internal organs.
Because let’s remember that for the same accident, women have a 47% greater risk of being seriously injured, but also a 71% greater risk of being slightly injured and even a 17% greater risk of losing their life on the road. For the moment, the integration of this new mannequin into official tests is not planned before 2027 or 2028, but this advance should undoubtedly revolutionize future car models.
