Starting with 2011 model vehicles the federal government replaced an average size male dummy with a smaller female dummy for some of its tests.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has used female dummies in its testing since 2003. When a 2011 Toyota Sienna slammed into a barrier at 35 miles an hour the female dummy in the front passenger seat showed a 20 to 40 percent risk of death or serious injury.
If it had been a male dummy, the risk of injury was only about 15 percent.
