BBC News | HEALTH | Human parts used in crash testing

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BBC News Online: Health

Monday, 13 March, 2000, 11:39 GMT

Human parts used in crash testing

Body parts from corpses are still used in car crash experiments, an accident medicine specialist has admitted.

This will shock those people who believe that modern "crash test dummies" have removed the need for the practice.

In dummies, the legs are very artificial - they are almost like two bits of wood with a hinge between them.
Professor Angus Wallace

Doctors were told they could take the limbs by dying patients, and their relatives were also asked for permission before the experiments were allowed to proceed.

Data collected from the tests is used to help develop the crash test dummies of the future.

And the scientists involved say the gruesome tests are vital to make cars safer in crashes.

Professor Angus Wallace, an orthopaedics expert from the University of Nottingham, is helping US scientists develop a more lifelike artificial foot for crash dummies.

In many serious car accidents, some of the most terrible injuries are to the lower body as the shape of the driver's compartment is changed by the impact.

Professor Wallace said that the work had already yielded safer car designs which had prevented leg injuries.

He told the BBC: "We have been taking and using limbs from people who have donated their limbs to us - and the relatives have given their consent.

Not real enough

"The difficulty we have is that dummies do not truly represent the human body, particularly when you look at the legs.

"In dummies, the legs are very artificial - they are almost like two bits of wood with a hinge between them."

He denied that there were any current plans to use complete corpses in crash experimentation, although he said that previous trials had been valuable in helping produce the current dummies and computer simulations.

"There are a tremendous number of deaths from car accidents. We have demonstrated already that we are making a difference in car safety.

"We can reduce leg injuries in car accidents by changing dummies."

Related to this story:
NHS 'should reclaim cost of accident care' (02 Nov 99 | Health)
Surviving the crash (27 Dec 99 | Health)
Call for organ donor reform (08 Jul 99 | Health)

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Health Contents: Medical notes | Background Briefings |