Dummy run: Building the perfect crash-test dummy

Here’s a name that deserves to be better known: Colonel John Stapp. A US Air Force officer, Stapp was instrumental in research on the effects of sudden deceleration, taking rides on a 400mph-plus rocket sled that was decelerated rapidly with a hydraulic braking system all to find ways of improving seat harnesses for air-force pilots. Stapp was one of the most frequent volunteers for the sled tests, subjecting himself to deceleration forces up to 46g and suffering broken ribs, arms,legs and permanently burst blood vessels in his eyes. With this experience, it’s hardly surprising that Stapp was also a leader in the development of crash-test dummies.

’Although Stapp was working on preventing injuries in aircraft crashes, he noticed during his research that just as many, if not more, airmen were injured when the jeeps taking them to their aircraft crashed,’ explained Dr David Hynd, head of the biomechanics and injury-prevention group at the Transport Research Laboratory, the Bracknell-based organisation that is one of the main centres for crash testing in the UK. ’So he started looking at restraints in cars and became an early advocate of seat belts to prevent injury back then they were lap belts.’ Among Stapp’s methods was staging demonstrations of crashes with and without belts: the first known use of crash-test dummies for car safety.