Digital dummies in virtual collisions augment traditional crash tests

A car crash takes half a blink of an eye. Detailed knowledge of the crucial split-second when the crash impact energy flashes through a vehicle's body and then onto the occupants' bodies is critical to building safer cars.

For decades at automakers' test tracks such as GM's Milford Proving Ground in Michigan, crash test dummies have endured repeated near ballistic collisions to provide that key data to safety and vehicle engineers. Through the years, the familiar bull's-eyed manikins of steel, rubber, vinyl, and foam have grown increasingly sophisticated, said Jack Jensen, Engineering Group Manager at the lab and GM Technical Fellow.