Hybrid II crash test dummy, 1970s (left)
Hybrid II crash test dummy, 1970s (left)
- Description
- Crash test dummies for cars were introduced in the 1950s at universities, where scientists and scholars tested theories of motorist restraint and protection, “packaging the passenger” with seat belts and other safety devices. By the late 1960s, independent firms supplied crash test dummies to automobile manufacturers, who had to prove that they were in compliance with new federal seat belt regulations and standards. Dummies were fitted with internal sensing devices that measured and recorded impact. General Motors was not satisfied with dummies placed on the market, and in 1972 GM designed the Hybrid II, so named because it combined the best features of Alderson VIP and Sierra dummies, with some original GM component designs. Unlike previous dummies, Hybrid II provided consistent results under similar conditions. Hybrid II also had a human-like slouch, a rubber neck instead of ball-and-socket, and well defined knee-leg action. GM shared its design with competitors and dummy manufacturers. In 1973, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration certified Hybrid II as the only dummy approved for seat belt compliance testing.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- crash test dummy, automotive
- crash test dummy (anthropomorphic test device)
- date made
- 1973-1977
- maker
- Sierra Engineering Company
- place made
- United States: California, Sierra Madre
- Physical Description
- vinyl (overall material)
- aluminum (frame - head material)
- steel (frame - torso material)
- Measurements
- overall: 36 in x 23 in x 37 in; 91.44 cm x 58.42 cm x 93.98 cm
- ID Number
- 2008.0152.01
- catalog number
- 2008.0152.01
- accession number
- 2008.0152
- Credit Line
- Gift of Denton ATD
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
- Transportation
- Road Transportation
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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