General Motors continues to make advances in passive safety technology with the introduction of two new industry-first air bags on four of its best-selling 2013 cars and crossovers.
The 2013 GMC Acadia and 2013 Chevrolet Traverse equipped with power seats and all 2013 Buick Enclave midsize crossovers come with GM’s front center air bag. Developed in collaboration with safety restraint supplier Takata, this air bag is designed to help provide an energy-absorbing cushion between drivers and front passengers in side impact crashes and rollover events, as well as added protection to the driver in far-side impacts.
Acadia, Traverse and Enclave are among the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s 2013 Top Safety Picks.
“The front center air bag is not required by federal regulation, and no other air bag in passenger vehicles today offers the type of restraint and cushioning this air bag is designed to provide for front occupants,” said Scott Thomas, senior staff engineer in GM’s advanced restraint systems.
“The front center airbag has real potential to save lives in side crashes,” said IIHS President Adrian Lund. “GM and Takata are to be commended for taking the lead in this important area.”
Another industry-first air bag co-developed by GM and Takata debuted this year on the 2013 Chevrolet Cruze, also an IIHS 2013 Top Safety Pick. The flexible venting driver air bag on the Cruze is designed to effectively use the inflator output and the characteristics of the vent to manage the ride down of the occupant and help reduce the risk of inflation-induced injuries by allowing the occupant’s forward momentum to effectively push the gas from the inflated bag out and away.
Unlike more complex dual-stage air bags that use one inflator for low-speed crashes and another for high-speed crashes, the Cruze’s new single-stage “smart air bag” uses one lower output inflator to manage both low-speed and high-speed crash forces. GM testing shows the single-stage driver air bag provides excellent cushioning for drivers of varied sizes in both low-speed and high-speed crash events.
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Learn more about the advanced safety features on the 2013 Chevrolet models at Emich Chevrolet.
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