Crash test dummies getting bigger due to obese drivers

CAR manufacturers are having to use larger crash test dummies due to soaring obesity rates.

Models are being redesigned to protect those who weigh up to 19½ stone over fears severely overweight people may not be safe.

The heaviest crash test dummy currently used to calibrate airbags and seatbelts weighs 15½ stone, but experts are concerned they are not powerful enough.

Obese adults with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or above now make up 28 per cent of the population, according to the Health Survey for England. A new dummy has been created which mirrors an obese man with a BMI of 35.

The vehicle safety ratings system, known as Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Programme), will announce on Wednesday that under its Vision 2030 plan, safety devices will cover a wider range of body types by weight, age, gender and stature.

A spokesman told The Sunday Times: ‘Restraints optimised for the average- sized driver do not necessarily work equally well for shorter or taller drivers, or, for that matter, for obese or more vulnerable older drivers.’

Matthew Avery, chief research strategy officer of Thatcham Research, the UK’s only Euro NCAP testing centre, said that a very heavy driver ‘will overwhelm the airbag, effectively ride through the airbag, and hit the steering wheel’.

This means a higher risk of them suffering internal injuries or even death. Safety devices, including seatbelts, are normally optimised for an average adult male weighing 11½ stone. Although there is little data on the weight of UK car crash casualties, American statistics show obesity increases risk.

According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, obese people – who account for 40 per cent of drivers in the States – are 79 per cent more likely to suffer injury than the average male.

The elderly, who account for 20 per cent of drivers, are 76 per cent more likely to suffer injury than the average male. This is because frail, older people are at greater risk of bone breaks from airbags. Mr Avery added: ‘For older people, if you deploy the airbag too quickly and too close to the steering wheel, then the airbag can actually be the cause of injuries.’

Some manufacturers are examining whether to include sensors on the inside of the vehicle to monitor the passengers’ height, weight and age to change safety devices accordingly.

James Ellway, a crash test inspector for Euro NCAP, said: ‘Human body modelling is the next frontier because it gives you more scope for morphing different sized occupants.

‘You could be tall and skinny or short and fat, and it allows you so many more options than those limited crash test dummies that we’ve got at the moment.’

‘Very heavy drivers overwhelm airbags’