Calls on Congress to pass her She DRIVES Act to make NHTSA’s updated crash testing standards permanent... Now it’s time to pass my legislation to ensure future National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations do not slow or deprioritize these important efforts. It’s far past time to make these testing standards permanent, which will help save thousands of lives and make America’s roads safer for all drivers. I'm ready to finish the job.
Work to pass the She DRIVES Act to require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to permanently adopt updated crash testing standards that include the use of advanced female crash test dummies for enhanced passenger vehicle safety.
Occurrences
Evidence
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released new research proving that women are at higher risk of injury than men during vehicular crashes. This study underscores the importance of the Trump Administration's progress in launching the first-of-its-kind advanced female crash test dummy, as well as the Department's ongoing efforts to advance safety for American families.
U.S. Senator Deb Fischer released a statement after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced its new advanced female crash test dummy. She emphasized the need to pass her She DRIVES Act to ensure future NHTSA administrations do not slow or deprioritize these important efforts.
The U.S. government announced major design changes to make the female version of the vehicle crash test dummy more lifelike. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the Department of Transportation will consider using the new dummy in the government's vehicle crash test five-star ratings once a final rule is adopted.
Latest Action: Senate - 07/31/2025 Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 141. Tracker: Tip This bill has the status Introduced.
This report to Congress summarizes the progress the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has made with advanced small female anthropomorphic test devices, THOR-05F and WorldSID-05F, and provides the status of broader female crash safety research efforts at NHTSA.
Congress.gov lists S.161 as introduced, with the latest action on 2025-07-31 placing it on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders; there is no enactment record.
DOT's FY 2026-2027 plan says NHTSA will develop injury criteria for THOR-05F and plan full-scale crash tests, showing ongoing administrative work but not statutory passage of the She DRIVES Act.
Congress.gov lists S.161 as still introduced, with latest action on 2025-07-31 placing it on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders and no enactment record.
NHTSA said its new research underscores progress in launching the first-of-its-kind advanced female crash test dummy and noted that it also published a report to Congress on THOR-05F and WorldSID-05F progress.
NHTSA reports that it has published documentation to support incorporating THOR-05F into 49 CFR part 572 and says additional fleet crash testing is planned; the report still frames the work as ongoing research and documentation.
DOT says that after approving the first advanced female crash-test dummy in November 2025, NHTSA will develop injury criteria for THOR-05F and plan full-scale crash tests in targeted conditions.
Congress.gov shows S.161 was introduced by Sen. Deb Fischer on 2025-01-21, later reported with an amendment on 2025-07-31, and still had the status Introduced with no enactment record.
The bill text would direct the Secretary of Transportation to revise federal crash-testing rules to include THOR-05F and update New Car Assessment Program procedures to use the new female test device.
DOT announced the THOR-05F design and said it will be considered for NCAP and FMVSS compliance testing only once a final rule is published.
NHTSA said its 2026 report to Congress summarizes progress on THOR-05F and WorldSID-05F and describes continuing research and roadmap work for future NCAP inclusion.
Assessments
Fischer materially pursued the promise by introducing and advancing S.161, the She DRIVES Act, and publicly pressing for its passage. But the promised outcome was passage of the act and a permanent statutory requirement on NHTSA, and the bill did not become law; Congress.gov still showed it only as introduced and placed on the Senate calendar as of July 31, 2025. Related NHTSA and DOT work on advanced female crash-test dummies showed administrative progress on the underlying policy, but not enactment of Fischer's bill or the permanent legal requirement she promised. Under the scoring rule for a serious legislative attempt that failed to deliver the outcome, this is a failed delivery with effort credit.
Fischer materially pursued the promise by sponsoring the She DRIVES Act and advancing S.161 through committee to the Senate legislative calendar, but the official Congress.gov status still shows the bill as introduced rather than enacted. Related NHTSA and DOT actions on advanced female crash-test dummies show administrative progress toward the policy goal, but they did not amount to passage of Fischer's bill or a permanent statutory requirement that NHTSA adopt the updated standards. In federal office-context terms, this is a serious legislative effort that fell short of delivering the promised outcome.
Fischer did work on the She DRIVES Act and the bill advanced to the Senate calendar, but there is no enactment record and no evidence that Congress passed a law permanently requiring NHTSA to adopt the updated female crash-test-dummy standards. Related NHTSA and DOT progress appears to be administrative action, not delivery of the promised statutory outcome.
The promised outcome was to work to pass the She DRIVES Act so NHTSA would be permanently required to adopt updated crash-testing standards using advanced female crash test dummies. Fischer sponsored S.161 in the 119th Congress, and it was reported from committee and placed on the Senate calendar on July 31, 2025, showing a serious legislative effort. However, as of the latest available Congress.gov status, the bill remained introduced/on the Senate calendar and had not passed Congress or become law. NHTSA and DOT activity on advanced female crash test dummies shows related administrative progress, but not enactment of Fischer's promised statutory requirement.
While NHTSA developed and endorsed the use of advanced female crash test dummies, and Senator Fischer publicly advocated for related action, there is no evidence that the She DRIVES Act itself was passed or that NHTSA was permanently required to adopt the new standards via legislation. Progress was made through administrative actions and public advocacy, but not by fulfilling the specific legislative promise.