Women and older people are being failed by our crash test dummies, according to the US Government Accountability Office. The GAO has just published a new report on the topic and is concerned that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has not done enough to fill knowledge or research gaps that would make our vehicles safer for those more-vulnerable classes of occupants. Consequently, the GAO is recommending that NHTSA create a comprehensive plan to improve that crash test dummy data.

Build the Era, a transportation advocacy organization focused on infrastructure as it relates to the U.S. Department of Transportation, hosted a conversation with VERITY NOW President, Catherine McCullough, to learn more about how we are working to protect women behind the wheel.

In the latest episode of the FemTech Focus podcast, VERITY NOW co-chair Beth A. Brooke and Brittany Barreto, PhD discuss how gender bias in vehicle safety is causing nearly 1,300 women to die each year on the roads.

If a woman is involved in a car accident, she is 17% more likely to die and 73% more likely to be injured than a man involved in the same crash. Put in perspective, this translates to approximately 1,300 preventable deaths and over 4,000 preventable injuries due to car accidents each year in the United States. In this episode, Caroline, joined by experts, investigates this glaring disparity to better understand what can be done to fix this issue

Automotive engineers, former congressional members and groups like the Verity Now Coalition are calling on the US government to make changes. At least 60 people signed and sent a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, asking that the federal government require organizations to use an average-sized female dummy.