A new kind of crash-test dummy is born at Ford

ByABC News
May 7, 2008, 11:15 PM

DETROIT -- Ford Motor has redesigned the midsection of child-size crash-test dummies to help carmakers invent seat belts that could protect children against abdominal injuries.

Overall, fatality rates in the USA are on the decline, but abdominal injuries have become one of the most common for young children, and serious injuries can occur even in slow crashes.

The reason? Children don't have the same pelvic anatomy as adults, so their seat belts tend to ride up into their stomach area. And when children aren't sitting in booster seats, they often scoot forward to let their legs hang comfortably over the side of the seat, pushing the seat belt even higher on their stomach.

Key to Ford's redesign is a new abdominal insert for the dummy. It's made of silicon and filled with sensors that measure how much pressure is sustained during a crash. A second piece of the redesign: The hard plastic hip bones were made rounder and smoother like a child's instead of square like an adult's.

"Something that looks so simple took many years to develop," says Priya Prasad, Ford's technical fellow for safety.

Ford spent three years working with researchers at various hospitals in the USA, including the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and with seat-belt manufacturer Takata to come up with the dummy, which mimics the average 6-year-old. Researchers have known for years that the abdomen is the second-most-injured part of a child's body in accidents, after the head, and internal stomach injuries can often go undetected.

The auto industry, including Ford, has faced numerous lawsuits regarding second-row seat belts, with plaintiffs alleging auto companies continued using lap belts long after research showed that shoulder restraints prevented more injuries.