Anthropometric comparison of Anthropometric Test Device (ATD) and Nigerian female adult

Abstract

Anthropometric test device (ATD) is surrogate used in automotive crash testing. Female ATDs used worldwide in the evaluation of vehicle safety performance was produced based on anthropometry of U.S. population. This work is aimed at assessing the difference between the anthropometric dimensions of Nigerian female adults from three major ethnic groups and ATDs, utilizing data reported in the literature. The comparison revealed differences varying from 0.5% to 2.1% in stature and 1.5% to 16.7% in the body weight. Small female and mid size female ATD could represent Igbo female because the difference in both stature and weight is within 2%. It was also found that female ATDs could not represent Hausa and Yoruba female population. ATD stature and weight targets differ from the Nigerian female population by less than 11 percentile points. This will lead to different injury outcomes in vehicular crashes. Vehicles certified using the ATD might not be safer for Nigerian female occupant. Therefore, car designers and manufactures need to consider the anthropometric differences in their future designs to ensure that vehicle used by Nigerians are evaluated using ATDs that truly represent the population.

Keywords: Anthropometry; ATD; Crash test; Vehicle safety