After decades of pressure from safety advocates, federal regulators have released the technical design for a purpose-built female crash test dummy — but it won’t be part of routine U.S. safety tests yet.
The new dummy, called THOR-05F (Test device for Human Occupant Restraint, 5th-percentile Female), was developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in partnership with Humanetics, the leading manufacturer of crash test dummies. Unlike earlier “female” models that were merely scaled-down male dummies with added breasts, the THOR-05F is built from the ground up to reflect female anatomy. That matters because research shows women are more likely to be injured in crashes than men, even when factors like crash severity and vehicle size are similar.
Design differences include a rounder pelvis that alters how a seatbelt rests, different neck geometry, and lower-leg characteristics linked to higher rates of leg injuries among women. The THOR-05F represents a very small woman — the fifth percentile — so it captures injury risks for smaller occupants but does not on its own represent the full range of female body sizes.
NHTSA and Humanetics have worked on the dummy for more than a decade. Earlier this week NHTSA published the technical specifications and testing documents for the THOR-05F, a move that administrators say should help automakers and suppliers begin using the design. NHTSA administrator Jonathan Morrison called the publication “a long overdue step toward the full adoption of this new dummy for use in our safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
But publication is not the same as formal adoption. NHTSA says more testing and regulatory action are still required before the dummy is written into federal crash-test procedures and the New Car Assessment Program that assigns safety ratings. The agency expects the process of incorporating the THOR-05F into NCAP to begin around 2027–2028. In the meantime, NHTSA says it is using the dummy in its own research.
Cost and scope present further limits. High-fidelity crash dummies are expensive — individual units can cost more than $1 million — and the THOR-05F models only one point on the size spectrum. Safety advocates and experts argue that computer simulations, which can represent many body shapes, should complement physical dummies; others say improved real-world dummy data are needed to validate and refine those models.
Some foreign regulators have signaled earlier adoption plans, but in the U.S. advocacy groups such as Women Drive Too are urging swifter action to require the dummy’s use in real crash tests. “We applaud this action, but by itself, it won’t be enough,” the coalition said, while continuing to push Congress to mandate practical use.
After decades of development and debate, the THOR-05F is an important technical advance — but its entry into everyday vehicle safety testing and ratings remains a few years away.