Toyota Adds Three Child Crash Dummies

Jun 24, 2016

Toyota Motor Corporation knows that the most precious cargo in your Toyota vehicle are your tiny passengers. That’s why they’re constantly working to develop new ways to keep them safe. This week, Toyota unveiled its fourth and newest version of the Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS), a virtual crash dummy software.

This version will introduce new passengers, including a three-year-old (3’1” tall), a six-year old (3’10” tall), and a ten-year-old (4’6” tall). This introduction of children follow the collaborative research project between the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, and Toyota’s Collaborative Safety Research Center*. This software is able to simulate vehicle crash injuries on humans. Because it’s able to predict injuries and their extent on humans (and now, children), Toyota will be able to better protect all passengers with devices and safety features such as airbags.

*The Collaborative Safety Research Center was established in 2011. It aims to reduce the number of traffic fatalities and injuries through collaborative research with North American universities, hospitals and research agencies, and by sharing the results of this research with society. Between 2011 and 2021, it is slated to receive 85 million dollars in investment.

“Toyota Adds Child Models to Virtual Crash Dummy Line-up | Corporate.” Toyota Adds Child Models to Virtual Crash Dummy Line-up | Corporate. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2016. <http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/toyota-adds-child–models-crash-test-dummy-lineup.htm>.