When a woman steps into a car in Australia, she assumes she is safe. Yet, statistical data reveals that women are 73% more likely to be seriously injured and 17% more likely to die in head-on car crashes of comparable severity to men.

Why? Because vehicle safety is primarily optimized for male biology.

Right now, the primary "female" crash test dummy used by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) and Global NCAP is a scaled down version of a male dummy from 30 years ago - standing at only 49kgs and 150cm tall. This 5th-percentile dummy supposedly fills the gap based on the outdated assumption that a standard female body is not biologically different enough from a male body to warrant its own unique design.

This is not true.

Women’s and men’s bodies respond completely differently in a crash due to critical variations in skeletal geometry, bone density, muscle mass, and standard driver positioning. Despite women making up over 50% of registered road users in Australia, compliance frameworks do not strictly require that cars are crash-tested for true female anatomy.

I am calling on ANCAP and Global NCAP to take immediate action:

1 - Require the urgent, comprehensive integration of the THOR-5F, WorldSID-5F, and EvaRID frameworks into all physical and virtual testing protocols as soon as technically and operationally feasible. 

2 - Require equal representation of both biological profiles in all physical and virtual testing protocols, such as seating positions, number of tests conducted, and airbag deployment outcomes. A five-star safety rating should only be awarded when protection is validated across both male and female biological profiles.

3 - Create a system of accountability for both NCAP organisations and vehicle manufacturers by introducing randomized testing variables and independent post-certification audits. These assessments should vary occupant sex, stature, seating position, and crash configuration to prevent manufacturers from simply designing for known test conditions. Vehicles found to produce significantly worse injury outcomes for female occupants should face rating penalties until the disparity is addressed.

ANCAP plans to introduce more representative female crash-test technology later this decade, but progress is too slow. Women need equal representation in frontal, side-impact, and rear-impact testing now, alongside fair testing standards that account for both male and female anatomy. Stronger accountability measures are also needed to prevent manufacturers from designing solely for predictable test conditions. Safety ratings should reflect protection for everyone - not just the people vehicles were originally designed around.

Women shouldn't have to wait for equal safety. Sign the petition today.