VERITY NOW CALLS ON SECRETARY BUTTIGIEG TO END GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN CAR SAFETY TESTING

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, VERITY NOW, a coalition advocating for gender equity in car safety, released the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s “National Roadway Safety Strategy,” which was announced by Secretary Pete Buttigieg this morning. 

“If the Department of Transportation truly intends to address the crisis of rising traffic fatalities, they must acknowledge that women are far more likely than men to be severely injured or killed in similar-impact car crashes. It is unacceptable that NHTSA does not require female dummies to be crash tested in the driver’s seat for all tests in the 5-star safety rating NCAP program,” said former Congresswoman Susan Molinari and Co-Chair of VERITY NOW. “The new DOT focus on vehicle safety as part of its investment in reducing traffic fatalities is a welcome step in the right direction, but we also need Secretary Buttigieg to require that women drivers receive the same standard of safety as men.”

“While the new investment from the Department of Transportation is vital to making our roads safer, there is a glaring omission in its strategy that will cost lives. NHTSA has known for years that women are more likely than men to die or be seriously injured in a crash but has failed to update its vehicle crash testing standards and practices to account for this inequity,” said Beth Brooke, Co-Chair of VERITY NOW and former Global Vice Chair of Public Policy for EY. “Over the past few decades, crash test dummy technology has evolved to a point where a new generation of dummies – called the THOR – can better represent men’s and women’s unique physiology. By deploying these technologies and retiring their male-designed circa-1970s dummies, NHTSA could prevent injuries and save lives each year. If Secretary Buttigieg is serious about making our roads safer, he needs to ensure that men and women are protected equally while in their vehicles.”

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VERITY (Vehicle Equity Rules in Transportation) NOW is a coalition voicing concern about these inequities and raising awareness with policymakers in the U.S. and E.U. who have the power to fix them. VERITY NOW strives to achieve equity in vehicle safety by educating on, and advocating for, crash testing standards that protect everybody, regardless of gender, height, weight or age.