The U.S. Department of Transportation has released the design details for the THOR-05F, a new advanced female crash test dummy intended to improve vehicle safety testing and address data showing higher injury rates for women in certain crash scenarios. The initiative began during the previous Trump Administration and has now reached a key development milestone.
For decades, crash testing has relied primarily on the Hybrid III dummy. With improvements in biomechanics research and sensor technology, DOT officials say the new THOR-05F model is designed to better represent female anatomy and provide more accurate measurements across a wider range of injury types. The agency published a technical comparison outlining the differences between the Hybrid III and THOR-05F models.
“After years of delays, our team has worked hard over the last eight months to finalize the details for this new, state of the art female crash test dummy. Under the leadership of President Trump, this Department will continue to put the safety of American families – including women – first,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
“Safety drives everything we do at NHTSA. Better understanding the unique ways in which women are impacted differently in crashes than men is essential to reducing traffic fatalities,” said National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Jonathan Morrison. “This is a long overdue step toward the full adoption of this new dummy for use in our safety ratings and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.”
The THOR-05F includes more than 150 sensors and is designed to provide expanded measurement capabilities compared to current models, including improved assessment of head, chest, abdominal, pelvic, and lower-leg injury risk. With design specifications now finalized, dummy manufacturers can begin producing models, and automakers will be able to integrate the new dummy into testing programs.
NHTSA plans to publish five technical documents outlining specifications and performance characteristics. Once rulemaking is complete, the THOR-05F will be considered for future use in both the New Car Assessment Program and Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards compliance testing.
The original announcement can be found here.
