Next Up: BBW Dummies
We are being reminded that one of the few things that still are common to the U.S. and the UK are their legal system, conveniently called the “common law.” British barristers are looking to American attorneys for new ideas. And here is one of them: If an obese driver dies in a car accident, it’s not her fault. It’s the fault of the manufacturer, who didn’t crash test with overweight crash test dummies.
The Independent in the UK brings us the story that Judith Evans, a Peugeot 107 driver “who weighed almost 16 stone” (that would be 224 lbs), died in a head-on crash with a Vauxhall Vectra on her way home from work on January 20 last year. The matter went to court. The court heard “that Mrs Evans, normally a cautious driver, was traveling on the wrong side of the road and may have suffered a medical accident before the collision.”
But that didn’t matter. What mattered was the weight of Peugeot’s dummies.
Lawyer Robert Horner, representing Mrs Evans’s family, asked Peugeot safety expert Richard Zeitouni: “Have you tested with any dummies more than 78kg?” (171 lbs)
Mr Zeitouni truthfully replied that Peugeot had not. He said Peugeot had tested with “an official dummy, a regulation dummy.”
Barrister Horner is no dummy and had read his ECE rules well.
He asked a question for which he knows the answer: The ECE regulation dummy is the Hybrid III 50th percentile male dummy that weighs, 77.7 kg, +/- 1.18 kg (that’s 171.3 lbs with a 2.6 lb variance.)
As per USA Code of Federal Regulations (Part 572, Subpart E), that dummy also suffices for more heftier American drivers.
Tough times for Mr. Zeitouni: Would he have said “yes” he would have violated European safety rules, by saying “no” he discriminated against the BBW community.
The matter is still in court, and a Peugeot spokesman wisely said the company has no comment to make at this stage.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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physics trumps all and safety and development costs trump physics and obesity... this reminds me of the time the CEO if Ryan air in Europe wanted to charge overweight people excess luggage. it makes sense in terms of total weight/passenger, but apply this method (non-discrimination) to safety, and our cars would weight twice as much and chairs would be 3 times bigger. but if the court does give PSA a hard time for not testing with obese dummies, it would be stupid
Not just fat/obese people but oversize people. I read accounts of an accident in which a pro-am weight lifter had his economy car's seat belt bolts ripped out due to his body size/weight during the accident impact. I think this was prior to airbags but the issue still stands. And the other point is that I usually see obese women driving small economy cars usually loaded with DUI boyfriend/husband in passenger seat and several children in back seat. Then I see very skinny women driving luxury/mega size SUVs without any other passengers. What gives there?