Automakers Enhance Occupant Safety With New Voluntary Commitment

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2003 -- The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) today announced a new voluntary industry safety commitment to meet new performance criteria designed to enhance occupant protection in front- and side-impact crashes.

The new safety performance criteria will drive a wide range of occupant protection technologies and designs, including enhanced matching of vehicle front structural components and enhanced side-impact protection through the use of features such as side airbags, airbag curtains and revised side-impact structures.

Automakers representing virtually 100 percent of U.S. vehicle sales are participating in this broad industry initiative. Participating automakers include BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota and Volkswagen.

"Technologies and industry-wide cooperation that we could only dream about a few years ago are now coming to fruition very quickly, with consumers the ultimate beneficiaries," said Robert Strassburger, an auto engineer and Vice President for Safety and Harmonization at the Alliance.

"These commitments will lead to significant improvements in the protection afforded to occupants in crashes," said Brian O'Neill, President of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Better geometric and stiffness matching of front structures will reduce override and underride and the resulting intrusion into compartments that can occur in serious head-on crashes. The enhanced head protection for side impacts will benefit occupants when their vehicles are struck in the side by another vehicle. In addition it will protect people in many single-vehicle side impacts."

Automakers stress that consumers will derive the greatest benefits from the compatibility commitment when using their safety belts.

To enhance safety in front-to-side crashes, automakers commit to enhance protection for passenger car and light truck occupants in side-struck vehicles, principally through improved head protection. As an example of the potential safety benefits of side airbags with head protection, the IIHS recently completed a study and stated: "Side airbags that include head protection are reducing deaths by about 45 percent among drivers of passenger cars struck on the near (driver) side." By September 1, 2007, at least 50 percent of all vehicles offered in the U.S. by participating manufacturers will meet the front-to-side performance criteria, and by September 2009, 100 percent of the vehicles of participating manufacturers will meet the criteria.

To enhance safety in front-to-front crashes, manufacturers commit to further enhancing the geometric matching of front structural components of vehicles. Better matching of structural components will enhance the ability of these structures to absorb crash forces, reducing occupant fatalities by an estimated 16-28 percent. Manufacturers have begun accommodating the performance criteria in their new products, and by September 2009, 100 percent of the vehicles of participating manufacturers will meet the front-to-front performance criteria.

These voluntary performance criteria, as well as research plans to investigate possible additional safety improvements, are contained in a report provided to NHTSA.

Vehicle crash compatibility was a major focus of the international Enhanced Safety of Vehicles Conference in 1998. In 2002, the Alliance began planning another conference of global safety experts to review progress by automakers. This conference, held in February 2003, was opened by NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey W. Runge, MD, and included representatives from Transport Canada, the United Kingdom's Transport Research Laboratory, IIHS, Alliance member companies and Honda.

"The NHTSA Administrator challenged automakers to move together quickly, and we did," said Strassburger.

The new performance criteria are third in a series of voluntary industry commitments developed by the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and international groups of safety experts:

  * In 2000, a voluntary safety commitment to enhance the performance of
    side airbags was developed by the Alliance, IIHS, the Automotive
    Occupants Restraints Council, and the Association of International
    Automobile Manufacturers (AIAM).

  * In 2002, voluntary safety guidelines to enhance driver focus when using
    telematics were developed by the Alliance, the Intelligent
    Transportation Society of America, the Society of Automotive Engineers,
    the Consumers Electronics Association, the American Automobile
    Association, the National Safety Council, AIAM and the Truck
    Manufacturers Association.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers is a trade association of 9 car and light truck manufacturers including BMW Group, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, Porsche, Toyota and Volkswagen. One out of every 10 jobs in the U.S. is dependent on the automotive industry. No other industry is linked to so much U.S. manufacturing or generates more retail business and employment. For more information, visit www.autoalliance.org.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a nonprofit research and communications organization funded by auto insurers. For more information, visit the IIHS website at www.iihs.org.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Automobile manufacturers will be publicly releasing information on their vehicles designed in accordance with the performance criteria.

Safety