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Do we miss women's needs when we design safe cars? Yes, according to Astrid Linder, who was recently been appointed equality star of the year 2020 by the Gender Equality Network in the transport sector for her groundbreaking and internationally recognized road safety research.

Astrid Linder is a researcher in injury protection in cars for women and men. Her research shows that it is not only possible to scale down male crash dolls to a smaller size. There are other physiological differences between women and men that play a major role in how the body responds to collision forces. The research is a clear example that we tend to develop products based on a male norm and when we do, we miss the conditions of half the population. In this case with a significantly higher risk of injury and fatalities in traffic for women as a result, not least in terms of injuries in rear-end collisions.

Astrid Linder's research has received great international recognition. She is mentioned, among other things, in the acclaimed book "Invisible Women" by Criado Perez, which was published very recently in Swedish. In 2020, Astrid Linder was also appointed professor of road safety with a focus on injury prevention at VTI.

Astrid Linder is a well-deserved recipient of the Equality star of the year 2020 award. The prize is awarded by the Gender Equality Network in the transport sector every year and goes to a person or organization that during the past year has done something outstanding or praiseworthy to promote equality.

We congratulate Astrid on the honorable award and wish her luck in her future research!