Press Release

GM Responds to Insurance Study that Lists Camaro as Car with High Death Rate

10/04/96

General Motors Statement Regarding Results of Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety (IIHS) Study Naming Chevrolet Camaro as
Having High Driver Death Rates /ADVANCE FOR RELEASE AT 8/30
A.M. EDT THURSDAY, OCT. 3/

/ADVANCE/DETROIT, Oct. 3 -- The following is a General
Motors statement regarding results of Insurance Institute
for Highway Safety (IIHS) study naming Chevrolet Camaro as having high
driver death rates. It may be attributed to Robert C. Lange, Director
of GM's NAO Safety Center:

IIHS study reveals some information about how different cars are
driven, but provides no information of any vehicle's
crashworthiness. People should not conclude from the study that they
would be safer in one vehicle than in another vehicle.

Driver behavior is the primary causal factor in over 90% of vehicle
crashes, and the IIHS study does not take this into account. The IIHS
implies that vehicles cause crashes. However, a better interpretation
of available data would be that your likelihood to be involved in a
crash is roughly 10 times more dependent on the way you drive, than on
the vehicle you choose to drive. A comparative evaluation of vehicles
based on fatality statistics alone are very misleading if the driver
differences are not considered. For example, a vehicle that has more
young drivers is more likely to be involved in crashes.

The study does not tell a reader if one vehicle is safer than another
because it does not compare the performance of vehicles in similar
crashes. Instead, it looks at unadjusted (gross) fatality rates, which
are heavily influenced by factors other than vehicle design.

The Chevrolet Camaro meets all federal safety standards and features
additional safety equipment such as dual air bags, anti-lock brakes, a
reinforced safety cage and daytime running lamps.