The vehicle safety standards automakers must meet today generally assume that vehicle occupants are seated upright, with their seatbelts across their hips.
Big Dummy Humanetics, the world’s largest manufacturer of crash dummies, is working on it.
Crash tests with THORs are written into some countries' vehicle safety standards globally, and many consumer crash-testing programs use the devices in their tests.
He expects the country to require reclined crash tests in two or three years.
“Modernization can’t be an excuse to remove core safety standards that are demonstrably important to public safety,” she says.