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CONTINUED
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Focus on the Customer – Safety Director Kent
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And a lane departure warning offered on the 2012 GMC Terrain crossover is
designed to help the driver avoid a crash before it happens.
The industry-first front-center air bag coming to our midsize crossovers in 2013
is an example of GM’s newest safety technology that may provide additional protection during side
crashes and rollovers.
And OnStar enables occupants to get help from emergency services after a crash
through Automatic Crash Response.
Another recent example of our commitment to providing safety “after” the crash is first responder training. For the Chevrolet Volt, GM worked with
the National Fire Protection Association to develop and deliver a comprehensive
training program for first responders. We believe our approach to vehicle
safety and occupant protection is one of the most comprehensive in the
industry.
Q: How does this strategy apply globally?
A: We design safety and crashworthiness into our vehicles very early in
development. Different regions have unique requirements for crash safety as
part of their New Car Assessment Programs or NCAPs. For example, the Chevrolet
Cruze global compact sedan received the highest-possible 5-star crash ratings
for overall safety in China, Korea, Europe, Australia and the United States.
Q: How do increasingly stringent federal safety standards and regulations influence
GM’s work on vehicle safety?
A: Federal motor vehicle safety standards and safety regulations are included in
the design and performance requirements for every new vehicle up front. On the Cruze, about 40 percent of the crash load cases were based on regulatory
requirements, with the remaining 60 percent based on GM’s own internal requirements for vehicle safety and crashworthiness, which go
above and beyond federal requirements.
Q: What drives new technologies like the front-center air bag, which is not
required by federal safety regulation?
A: GM is focused on the customer. From a vehicle safety perspective, this means
demonstrating strong performance in third-party consumer metrics. For example,
the NHTSA NCAP and the Top Safety Pick vehicle test program by the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety.
Beyond that, GM has many partners in injury prevention. How a vehicle performs
in the real world is an important source of information for driving continuous
improvement and innovation in vehicle safety. The front-center air bag is an
example where studies of national collision data made it clear that an air bag
of this type could help address many of the injuries and fatalities sustained
by front occupants in far side impact crashes. No other air bag in passenger
vehicles today offers the type of protection in the front seat that this air
bag is designed to provide.
Q: How important was Takata, the system supplier, in the development of the
front-center air bag?
A: Takata played a vital role. GM and Takata had been working independently toward
the same goal – the development of an air bag that could provide additional protection in side
impact crashes. By teaming up, we were able to accomplish that goal more
quickly and efficiently.
Q: Why is the introduction of a camera-based forward collision alert and lane
departure warning system so important?
A: First, the system is designed to help drivers avoid crashes, and is able to
offer two important features using a single camera. Often such new technologies
are only seen on more expensive models, but GM is committed to offering them on
a broad range of models. Terrain is a great vehicle to introduce this system,
because it is attracting many consumers who are new to GMC and GM overall.
Q: Both front-center air bag and the exclusively camera-based collision avoidance
systems represent industry firsts for GM. Is this the beginning of a new trend
or a continuation?
A: GM has a strong history on safety. Almost 35 years ago, GM introduced the Hybrid
Ill, a third-generation dummy whose responses are more human-like in
performance. This dummy remains the “gold standard” for measuring restraint performance and is the required dummy for regulatory
compliance and NCAP testing in the United States.
More recently, our dynamic locking latch plate for front safety belts was
developed to help address new crash test criteria for the 2011 model year New
Car Assessment Program. This was a key tuning device that enabled several of
our models to achieve 5-star Overall Vehicle Scores for safety.
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