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[lolakimono]

http://time.com/3548894/fat-dummies/

Car Crash Test Dummies Are Getting Fatter Because We Are Too

A dummy maker is building an obese model to reflect the weight Americans are putting on

Like the God of Genesis, auto crash testers fashion dummies in their own image. Crash test dummies have four limbs and a head so that when they’re strapped into a doomed car, the collision shows what a real human ramming a vehicle into a solid wall looks like.

The problem is, our image has changed, and the svelte dummy of yesteryear is a hopeful mirage at best.

So instead, we need obese dummies. That’s because more than one-third of Americans are obese, and obese drivers are more likely to die in a car crash. Humanetics, a company that makes crash test dummies, is making their dummies bigger, with one version that weighs 270 lbs and has a BMI of 35, NPR reports. The increase in size allows the company to measure belt and airbag loads during crashes.

“Obese occupants are up to 78 percent more likely to die in a car crash than an average weight driver,” Humanetics President and CEO Christopher O’Connor told trade publication Crash Test Technology International. “Having a body mass index of 35-39.9 percent increases your risk of death by 51 percent.”

[brewhaha]

They should have a cell phone in their hands too.

[Nancy Drew]

Americans have got to get better with the weight problem. It is making our country weak. Overweight people can (and do) have everything going for them but being overweight is a real problem.

[lolakimono]

[ROMARY]

Anyone else here semi-afraid of the automatic airbags? I know they do prevent fatalities, but sometimes I prefer to ride in the back seat when I'm a passenger. I'm sometimes worried about electrical wiring malfunctions, etc.

[sidsmom]

How about Morbidly Obese Caskets? Yikes.

[LilacTree]

I'll wager any new planes being built are also increasing the size of their seats.

I guess we are just accepting the fact that we are ""The Fat Nation.""

[Kalli]

On 11/8/2014 Ford1224 said:

I'll wager any new planes being built are also increasing the size of their seats.

I guess we are just accepting the fact that we are ""The Fat Nation.""

Either that or we're buried in layers of denial.

-Kalli

[september]

Actually, plane seats have been getting smaller over the years....I know, it doesn't make sense, but to the people who are the CEO's of the airlines...they just want to squeeze more of us into smaller areas.

[LilacTree]

On 11/8/2014 september said: Actually, plane seats have been getting smaller over the years....I know, it doesn't make sense, but to the people who are the CEO's of the airlines...they just want to squeeze more of us into smaller areas.

I am so happy that there has not been and never will be a reason that I have to fly ever again.