Susan Molinari & Beth Brooke of Women Drive, Too Leading the Campaign to Mandate Female Crash Test Dummies

In this week’s episode, Jennifer welcomes Susan Molinari and Beth Brooke to dive into the shocking disparities and outdated standards in the way car safety is measured for women in the United States.

They reveal that despite decades of progress, female crash test dummies are still largely absent from critical safety testing, putting women at greater risk of injury and death. They address controversial facts such like the continued use of “shrink it and pink it” dummy models, the bureaucratic inertia at NHTSA, and the international success of advanced female crash dummies in the EU and Asia, where substantial reductions in female traffic fatalities have been achieved.

Calling for bipartisan legislative action, they highlight the “She Drives Act,” and encourage listeners to bring pressure to Congress and the Department of Transportation, and challenge listeners to take activism into their own hands by educating themselves and demanding accountability from policymakers and automakers.

Susan Molinari is a former U.S. congresswoman and Google VP of public policy, renowned for her commitment to public service and policy innovation. Beth Brooke is the former EY Global Vice Chair and has been recognized as one of Forbes’ World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Her global leadership and dedication to equity are widely celebrated. Together, they have spearheaded a movement aimed at transforming government standards around vehicle safety for women, drawing on their experiences in Congress and international corporate leadership.

In 1970 is when the United States government first started with crash test dummies. It wasn't until 20 years later that they realized that women got in cars also. And so instead of taking all the biofidelic differences we have between men and women, they just what we call shrink it and pink it.”

 - Susan Molinari

This week on Political Contessa:

• Female crash test dummies are absent from primary vehicle safety testing standards
• The “She Drives Act” aims to mandate gender-equitable vehicle safety testing
• Bureaucratic delays in rulemaking risk prolonged inequities in car safety for women
• Advanced female crash test dummies are already producing results in Europe and parts of Asia
• Status quo “shrink it and pink it” dummy models fail to capture women’s biomechanical differences
• Women are 73% more likely to be severely injured and 17% more likely to die in car accidents
• Congressional and administrative inertia can be disrupted by grassroots advocacy and awareness
• Social media activism and direct outreach to representatives are critical for legislative accountability

Connect with Susan Molinari and Beth Brooke:

• Women Drive, Too website
• Women Drive, Too on Instagram: @WomenDriveToo
• Women Drive, Too on Facebook: @WomenDriveToo

Resources mentioned:

• She Drives Act (pending bipartisan legislation) 
• NHTSA crash test standards
• Thor 5 advanced female crash test dummy statistics and implementation in the EU

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