GM Statement Re: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration New Dynamic Rollover NCAP Test Program

General Motors supports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) decision to adopt the Fishhook maneuver to fulfill the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation (TREAD) Act mandate for rollover ratings based on dynamic driving maneuvers. GM has previously recommended to NHTSA that this dynamic assessment be combined with the current static (T/2h) metric for a consolidated rollover NCAP rating, and we are pleased that the agency has taken this approach.

NHTSA and other auto safety experts have long recognized that rollover crashes are the result of complex interactions of driver, environmental, and vehicle factors. The new rollover NCAP that NHTSA is adopting provides a technically valid assessment of relevant vehicle factors. It is also extremely important for consumers to understand that the dominant causes of rollover crashes and injuries are:

Excessive vehicle speed Impaired driving due to alcohol, drugs, fatigue, and distraction, and Failure to wear seat belts. Driving within posted speed limits, driving unimpaired, and the proper use of seat belts and child restraints by all vehicle occupants provide the greatest opportunities to reduce rollover crashes and injuries. Finally, GM reminds consumers that well over 90 percent of rollovers involve an unintended off-road excursion, with the subsequent rollover occurring either on or off-road. In most circumstances where a vehicle partially or completely departs the road, the correct driver response is to release the accelerator pedal, wait for the vehicle to slow down, and then gradually steer back onto the roadway. Unnecessarily abrupt steering maneuvers should be avoided.