The need for testing

On August 31, 1869, Mary Ward became what is believed to be the first recorded victim of a steam powered automobile accident (Karl Benz only invented the gasoline powered automobile as we know it in 1886). Mary Ward was thrown out of a motor vehicle and killed in Parsonstown, Ireland.[1] Some years later, on September 13, 1899, Henry Bliss entered the history books as North America's first motor vehicle fatality when he was hit stepping off a New York City trolley. Since that time, in excess of 20 million people worldwide have lost their lives to motor vehicle accidents.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_test_dummy