General Motors Safety Technology can Reduce Crashes by up to 43%

Advanced safety technology built into General Motors (GM) vehicles can reduce crashes by up to 43%, according to a study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the United States, which investigates reported car accidents across 23 states. General Motors is working towards a future of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestions, and the results of this study demonstrate the effectiveness of the steps already taken to achieve this goal.​

The study found that GM vehicles equipped with automatic braking and forward collision warning saw 43% fewer police-reported front-to-rear crashes when compared to similar vehicles that are not equipped with front crash prevention technology. In addition, GM vehicles equipped with those two safety features had 64% fewer front-to-rear crashes with injuries.

These results also offer further evidence that front-crash prevention systems are helping drivers avoid crashes. For vehicles equipped with forward collision warning only, the crash rate reductions were 17% for front-to-rear crashes and 30% for front-to-rear crashes with injuries.

Finally, the findings showed that the combination of forward collision warning and autobrake reduced front-to-rear crash rates by 50% for crashes of all severities and 56% for front-to-rear crashes with injuries. Evaluated independently, forward collision warning without autobrake cut the collision rates 27% and 20%, respectively.

This smart technology helps form the foundational blocks for the next stages in autonomous, connected and shared vehicle technology. Already supporting a reduction in accidents today, its continued development and implementation across the GM vehicle lineup will help move the automotive industry towards a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. As leaders in future mobility, General Motors are currently developing Level 4 autonomous vehicles to be tested by consumers in major cities across the United States in 2019.