Democrat Demands Crash Test Dummies Go ‘Woke’ for ‘Gender Equality’
Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) introduces bill to force car companies to remodel dummies
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A Democrat lawmaker has introduced a new bill that forces car companies to make their crash testing process more "woke" for the sake of "gender equality."
On Tuesday, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) unveiled her legislation that requires automobile manufacturers to test car safety using crash test dummies modeled on both male and female bodies.
Norton, a non-voting delegate representing the nation's capital, argues that the move is necessary to advance "gender equality."
According to Norton, whose party is pushing for biological males to compete in female sports events, the legislation is vital for "achieving equality" for women.
In a statement regarding the bill, the Democrat argues that "Women have achieved equality on the road when it comes to driving, but when it comes to safety testing to keep them safe on the road, they are nowhere near achieving equality."
"Crash test standards are incredibly antiquated, and we must update these standards now, especially as more people return to their daily commute in the next few months," Norton, who chairs the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, added.
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In a news release, Norton's office lamented the fact that the federal government only uses male crash test dummies and that private car companies are often not required by law to test safety using female models.
In addition to height and weight differences, the news release noted that "there are also other biological differences in anatomy, such as average neck strength and posture, that affect how female and male bodies react in a crash."
"Since cars are not required to be tested with the safety of women in mind, women are at higher risk of injury and death in car crashes," the release concluded.
Notably, the progressive lawmaker acknowledged both the gender binary and the consequent biological differences in her appeal for an update to federal regulations, two things many Democratic lawmakers are resistant to affirm as it relates to other policy issues.
According to research from the University of Virginia, female drivers are 73% more prone to serious injury from a car crash compared to male drivers in a similar crash and also nearly 20% more likely to die as a result of a car crash.
Car companies still typically use a dummy modeled off of the 50th percentile male, which was standardized in the 1970s, according to Consumer Reports.
The dummy is a 171-pound, five-foot nine-inch male, even though the average male today is 26 pounds heavier, according to the report.
Female dummies, however, are far and few in between.
While males tend to drive more miles than women and are more likely to speed, drive under the influence and not wear a seatbelt, according to Consumer Reports, women are more likely to die.
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In 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that female drivers and passengers are about 17% more likely to be killed in a car crash than a male driver or passenger of the same age.
“Females are not just smaller versions of males,” co-scientific director of the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Kristy Abrogast said, according to Consumer Reports.
“They’re put together differently.
"Their material properties–their structure– is different.”
The NHTSA does have two female crash dummies, one which represents the 5th percentile adult female who is four feet eleven inches and weighs 108 pounds, and a “small adult female” with the same height but weighing only 97 pounds.
