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Of American-English origin, the expression crash-test dummy designates a life-size model of a person, typically fitted with sensors and designed to mimic real movements and reactions, used in vehicle safety tests to assess the effect of crashes, collisions, etc., on the driver and passengers of the vehicle.
This expression later came to be also used figuratively in the sense of a person or thing used as a test subject, typically one exposed to some risk or danger. The following, for example, is from a tribute to Pfc. Gary Anderson (1949-1969), United States Army, published in The Griffin Daily News (Griffin, Georgia, USA) of Sunday 17th May 2015 [page B1, column 2]:
Another talent Gary had was cutting hair and barbering. Gary would begin by cutting the hair of his youngest brother Jimmie Lee. “No it didn’t look too good, that’s for sure. I was his ‘crash test dummy,’” smiled Jimmie Lee. But as Gary worked at his craft, he got better and better.
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the expression crash-test dummy that I have found:
1-: From the Sierra Madre News (Sierra Madre, California, USA) of Thursday 4th August 1955 [page 1, column 6]:
Engineering Staff Visited By Movie Men
Officials of Twentieth-Century-Fox Film Corporation working on the new Cinemascope production “Windblast,” visited Sierra Engineering Company last week accompanied by the Air Force technical adviser for the new picture.
[…]
Along with Colonel Henderson, Twentieth-Century-Fox executives Ben Nye, Richard Smith and Jack Poplin consulted with Sierra President R. A. Hawks, Vice President H. L. Daulton and Sales Director F. A. Ritterrath on construction details of Sierra’s nationally famous “Sierra Sam,” the anthropometric crash test dummy, a veteran of the rocket sleds.
2-: From the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio, USA) of Sunday 8th June 1958 [page 18-F, column 5]:
Summer Rotunda Show Features Ford Products
“Fun for You on the American Road” is the theme of the new product show now open for the summer at the Ford Rotunda, Dearborn, Mich.
[…] Motoring safety is demonstrated by animated crash test dummies and an engineering film, “Equation for Progress,” is shown on a continuous run basis in the Rotunda theater.
3-: From the Daily News-Post (Monrovia, California, USA) of Friday 8th April 1966 [page 3, column 7]:
Orders Top $5 Million For Firm
Aaron Bloom, President of Sierra Engineering Co., has announced that Sierra’s backlog of orders has surpassed the $5,000,000 for the first time in the company’s history. The influx of new business is in all departments of the company and is to fill both military and commercial requirements. While new orders for flight helmets and related head protective devices dominate the new business, sales efforts in commercial oxygen equipment, medical products, and crash-test dummies have been unusually successful.
4-: From the caption to the following photograph, illustrating an account of the “19-Safety-6” meeting that was held at the Industrial Mutual Association (IMA) Auditorium, in Flint, Michigan, on Monday 6th June 1966—account by Duane E. Poole, Journal automotive editor, published in The Flint Journal (Flint, Michigan, USA) of Tuesday 7th June 1966 [page 27, column 1]:
SAFETY SAM—Among several exhibits displayed at the IMA Auditorium Monday night in connection with “19-Safety-6,” a public traffic safety meeting, was this one featuring a crash-test dummy tagged “Safety Sam.”
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