The World's First Female Test Dummy

U of T Scientista
6 days ago
4 min read

By Larissa Fong

(Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP)

Astrid Linder is a Swedish engineer and professor of traffic safety at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. She is renowned for leading the development of the first crash test dummy modeled on the average female body. Her work aims to ensure that women receive the same level of protection as men in vehicle collisions.

In the 1990s, while pursuing her PhD at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, Linder began working with crash test dummies on a pioneering project that produced the world’s first dummy designed for low-severity rear-end collisions. In the lab, they only had access to a model based on the average male. For Linder, the next logical step was to make a model for the average female. Following this, Linder spent 20 years developing her female crash test dummy with her team, called SET50F, as well as its male counterpart, SET50M. In 2002, she completed her PhD in mechanical engineering in the field of traffic safety.

Linder was Awarded the EU Champions of Transport Research Competition and the U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence in November 2023, among several other distinctions.

In her life outside of engineering, she has described herself as an outdoor person. She enjoys spending time trekking or building sea kayaks to take out into the ocean. In addition, she has a son and grandchildren.

As a teenager, Linder was drawn to practical skills, which led her to qualify as a technician. After several years in the workforce, she discovered a passion for mathematics and physics. At 29, she began university, where she developed a strong love for mathematics. Without a set career path, she chose to follow her passion.

Women are more likely to suffer injuries, particularly to the neck and back, in road accidents. Since the 1970s, crash test dummies have been used to evaluate car safety, but these dummies were modeled after men. When data for women or children were needed, smaller versions of the male dummy were used; for women, this often meant a dummy the size of a 12-year-old girl, representing only about 5% of the female population. Research has shown that women experience different patterns of injury compared to men: since the late 1960s, females have been at higher risk of whiplash—a soft-tissue neck injury caused by the sudden movement of the head relative to the torso—even in low-severity crashes. In higher-severity crashes, women face a greater risk of severe injuries as drivers in frontal impacts and are overall 73% more likely to be injured in a car crash compared to men.

The reason why the female crash test dummy is called SET50F and the male counterpart, SET50M is that it stands for Seat Evaluation Tool. 50 being the median value for the height and weight of a real man and woman.

Some differences in the two dummies include: weight, height, torso shape and geometrical difference. Specifically, the female dummy is shorter, lighter, has a bust, has wider hips, narrower shoulders, and developed specifically for low severity rear impact and to test the movement of the spine, neck and shoulders with realistic softness in the body. Since women have less muscle and lower total strength, the stiffness between their joints are lower. Thus, the female dummy has a less stiff neck.

As of October 2025, the SET50F crash test dummy is not yet mandated by international vehicle safety regulations. Current global standards, including those from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe require crash tests to be conducted using male-based dummies, with no obligation to include female-specific models like SET50F. While some manufacturers, including Volvo in Sweden, have voluntarily adopted the SET50F for internal testing, its use is not yet a regulatory requirement. In the United States, the “She DRIVES Act,” introduced in May 2024, proposes to modernize vehicle safety tests by requiring the use of female crash test dummies and more advanced testing devices. However, as of now, this legislation has not been enacted.

In conclusion, the UN must decide on the design of the regulatory framework to ensure that clear requirements are established for the use of a crash test dummy representing the average woman. Additionally, all data from the dummy’s development has been made freely accessible online.

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