GM Joins Child Safety Research Group
DETROIT – General Motors has joined the advisory board of the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies (CChIPS) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute. As an initial activity, GM researchers are guiding CChIPS faculty in a study to identify opportunities for improvement of safety belt performance for child occupants.
“Child passenger safety is a priority for GM,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. “The additional expertise provided by the Center’s faculty and members of the advisory board, including the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, will supplement GM’s ongoing work.”
GM researchers are the lead industry mentors for a 10-month study to determine why some children 8-15 years of age experience injuries in vehicle crashes even when wearing a safety belt. The GM team will work with CChIPS faculty at Children’s Hospital and University of Pennsylvania, as well as other CChIPS members in the vehicle manufacturer, restraint supplier, child seat manufacturer, and insurance industries to compare injury and fatality risks for children using safety belts with those of adults in similar restraints.
“We welcome GM’s participation in our consortium and the opportunity to have access to the company’s research and development expertise,” said Flaura Winston, MD, PhD, and director of the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies. “The safety belt study will be greatly enhanced by GM’s participation and will provide crucial data that will improve industry efforts to make vehicles, and their rear seats in particular, safer for older children.”
GM has been a leader in promoting child passenger safety through its partnership with Safe Kids USA. As part of the longstanding Safe Kids Buckle Up program, certified child passenger safety technicians have inspected 1.3 million child safety seats for proper installation. Other Safe Kids USA educational and awareness programs include Spot the Tot and Never Leave Your Child Alone.
About General Motors – General Motors Company (NYSE: GM, TSX: GMM), one of the world’s largest automakers, traces its roots back to 1908. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 209,000 people in every major region of the world and does business in more than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Baojun, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall, and Wuling. GM’s largest national market is China, followed by the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Italy, Russia, Mexico, and Uzbekistan. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. General Motors acquired operations from General Motors Corporation on July 10, 2009, and references to prior periods in this and other press materials refer to operations of the old General Motors Corporation. More information on the new General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.
About the Center for Child Injury Prevention Studies – Hosted by The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute, CChIPS (www.chop.edu/cchips) is one of 50 Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) funded jointly by the National Science Foundation and center member companies to conduct translational research that is practical to industry. CChIPS is the nation’s only I/UCRC devoted to injury prevention among children and young adults.
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