GM attributes significant reduction in crashes, injuries to advanced in-vehicle safety features

General Motors says new research from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) confirms the automaker is making measurable progress toward the goal of zero crashes, with advanced safety features in its vehicles “delivering statistically significant reductions in crashes and injuries on public roads,” according to a GM press release.

The latest study, which is the eighth in a long-running research partnership between GM and UMTRI, examined 12 million GM model year 2020-2024 vehicles and matched them to more than 700,000 police-reported crashes across 18 states.

The findings show that GM vehicles equipped with specific safety technologies have significantly lower rates of certain crash types.

The release states that GM’s safety and driver assistance features that come standard in U.S. models under $30,000 MSRP, such as the Buick Encore GX and Envista, and Chevrolet Trax, Trailblazer, and Bolt, include the following, at a minimum:

• • Automatic Emergency Braking
  • Front Pedestrian Braking
  • Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning
  • Forward Collision Alert
  • IntelliBeam

“These features and others are designed to help drivers avoid or reduce the severity of crashes, building on GM’s strong foundation of crashworthiness and occupant protection,” the release states.

UMTRI researchers focused on system-relevant crash types, including rear-end, roadway departure, pedestrian, lane-change, and backing crashes.

To estimate the effect of each safety feature, the team compared the rate of system-relevant crashes to control crashes (unaffected by the system) for vehicles with and without the feature.

The analysis accounted for a wide range of potentially confounding factors, including driver behavior, road conditions, and vehicle type.

“These findings give us real-world evidence that GM’s safety technologies are doing exactly what they’re designed to do: helping drivers avoid crashes and reducing injuries in everyday driving environments,” said Susan Owen, GM technical fellow, safety data analytics and field research, in the release. “By linking data from more than 700,000 police-reported crashes with the safety content in about 12 million GM vehicles, we can see with a high degree of confidence that these features are delivering meaningful benefits for our customers and everyone who shares the road.”

The release adds that the results are the product of “a deliberate, values-driven approach to safety” that GM has embedded into its culture and operations.

“At GM, product safety is embedded in who we are and how we work,” said Regina Carto, GM’s global product safety, systems, and certification vice president, in the release. “We design safety into our vehicles from the beginning, and we reinforce it at every step. Studies like this confirm that when we deploy these technologies at scale, we can help reduce crashes and injuries in the real world, which is exactly what our customers expect from us.”

GM says its approach to safety brings together advanced vehicle technologies, safety advocacy, and independent research to improve outcomes for drivers, passengers, and everyone who shares the road.

“The UMTRI partnership exemplifies that model: a rigorous, iterative cycle of deploy, measure, learn, and improve,” the release states. “Each study builds on the last to refine existing features, prioritize new features to address crash types that cause the most harm, and strengthen evaluation methods as new data becomes available.”

Owen added that trusted research with organizations like UMTRI is essential to GM’s safety mission.

“It helps us understand where our technologies are most effective today, where there are further opportunities, and how we can evolve systems to address the highest remaining sources of crash harm,” she said.

Carto said the UMTRI results will help inform GM’s ongoing safety technology development and support the company’s broader commitment to a world with zero crashes, zero emissions, and zero congestion.

“Safety isn’t just a metric for GM, it’s a mission,” she said. “We will continue to invest in advanced safety and driver assistance features, partner with leading researchers and support safety advocacy efforts so that we’re addressing risk from every angle — from technology in the vehicle to behaviors on the road and improvements in the transportation system itself.”

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