As a bioengineer at the Crash Safety Test Facility of a major automobile company, you are asked to provide more data for the Gadd Severity Index (Figure 14.6). Your boss suggests using live animals, dogs and cats from the local pound, in hard impact tests and then inspecting them for injury. You know their injuries will be severe or fatal, and using dogs and cats seems cruel. What do you do?
a. Nothing. Live animals are used regularly in product testing, and besides, they will probably be killed in the pound anyway.
b. Suggest using dead animals from the pound, since their impact injuries probably don't depend on whether or not they are alive.
c. Suggest using human cadavers since you really want data on humans anyway.
d. Suggest developing an instrumented human mannequin for these tests.
Figure 14.6
