History of Crash Test Dummies

When auto-related fatalities soared in the 1930s, automaker switched their focus on safety improvements instead of aesthetic improvements, which was the main selling feature of a car.

General Motors because the first car maker to crash test it’s vehicles when an unoccupied car collided in a concrete barrier.  

By the 1950’s a new industry was created just to do crash tests and provided the effectiveness of safety features, most notably the seat belt.  Even Cornell, UCLA and Wayne state conducting their own crash tests and in 1968, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act went into effect, mandating seat belts in all new cars and testing collisions.  

The first crash tests were done on unoccupied cars. The driver would usually jump out of the moving car before the crash. Cadavers were eventually used to see how crashes affected human bodies. But dead bodies don't react the same way that living, breathing, moving ones do. Tests evolved to include survivability, which couldn't be determined on a cadaver. 

Researchers eventually started using animals, including primates and bears. Pigs were the most commonly used animal since they have the same thoracic and abdominal organs as humans. Researchers gained some insights from testing on living creatures, but they couldn't get practical crash test data due to the differences between man and animal. It was time for a new approach.

Crash test dummies were first developed in the 1940s for the U.S. Air Force to test aircraft ejection seats. Sierra Engineering Company and Alderson Research Laboratories created the first dummy. The humanoid they created was called Sierra Sam.

However, people were still reluctant to wear safety as fewer than 20% of Americans were wearing seatbelts.  Then, those Seatbelt Public Service Announcement (PSA) videos of crash test dummies, Vince and Larry and how you can learn a lot from a dummy aired.  Once those videos aired, 70% of vehicle occupants were wearing seatbelts by 1998, a 50% increase since early 1980s.  

You can watch Vince and Larry’s PSA here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_8hkdZkF7Q

You can learn more here: https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/life/cars-trucks/the-history-of-crash-test-dummies/