There are several fronts on which car accidents are being combated throughout the nation. Campaigns to improve driver behavior are just one of the many approaches being taken. In addition cars are routinely being updated with enhanced safety features. The vehicles are then tested to determine how safe they actually are.

In the course of car safety testing crash test dummies are often used. These dummies collect a variety of data during a test which provides testers with information regarding how safe the cars actually are. In fact, before a vehicle can be sold in the United States, it must first pass a crash test involving a dummy. There is now some question regarding how well the crash dummies currently being used reflect how safe a vehicle is for occupants of a car who are obese.

To address this issue, dummy producer Humanetics is currently working on creating a dummy that meets the definition of obese. Since according to the CEO of Humanetics, individuals whose weight places them in this category are 78 percent more likely to die in a car crash as compared to those in other weight ranges, doing crash tests with these new dummies could have an impact on car accident deaths.

While most would probably agree that it is a good thing that safety advancements are continually being made to cars, there will still likely be individuals who are hurt or die in vehicles that have passed the crash tests. When the negligence of another is to blame for these crashes, it is possible that the negligent individual could find that he or she is facing a personal injury lawsuit.

Source: CNN, "Are obese crash test dummies the key to preventing road deaths?" Kieron Monks, Oct. 28, 2014