GM to Put Stabilizers in Some Large Vans
GM to Install Stabilizers in 15-Passenger Vans, Responding
to Rollover Concerns
By John Porretto,
AP Auto Writer
DETROIT (AP) --
General Motors Corp., responding to concerns about rollover accidents,
says it will make stability enhancement systems standard features in
its 15-passenger vans.
The world's largest automaker said it will install the systems in GMC
Savana and Chevrolet Express vans beginning in 2004 models.
"By adding
this system, we will take what we believe is already a very safe vehicle
and make it even better," said Ray Chess, GM's vehicle line executive
for commercial trucks and vans.
Stability enhancement
systems help drivers maintain control of vehicles when they encounter
such things as ice, snow, gravel, wet pavement and uneven road surfaces.
They also provide stability in emergency lane changes and sudden movements.
The systems use
sensors to recognize wheel skid and activate the brakes to keep the
vehicle on course.
GM began installing
the systems in passenger cars in 1997 and in sport utility vehicles
in 2002.
Last year, the government
renewed a safety warning for 15-passenger vans, which often are used
by churches, sports teams and other groups. Some 500,000 of the vans
are in use on U.S. highways.
The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration has said the vans have a dramatically
higher risk of rollovers when fully loaded and should be operated only
by experienced drivers.
In November, the
National Transportation Safety Board called on Ford and GM to improve
the safety performance of their 15-passenger vans.
In letters to the
automakers, the board urged them to test the use of electronic stability
control systems to help drivers maintain better control of large vans.
NTSB spokeswoman
Lauren Peduzzi said she couldn't comment specifically on the system
GM will use but that it satisfies the agency's recommendation to evaluate
and test measures to make the vans safer.
But Public Citizen,
a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, said the enhancements fall short
and the vans should be redesigned. The group said GM also should retrofit
existing vans.
"This system
won't fix the fundamental hazards that are designed into these vans
and are evident in crashes," said Public Citizen President Joan
Claybrook. "The vehicles have extremely weak roofs that crush in
a rollover, jeopardizing the heads and spines of passengers and opening
large portals for ejection."
Ford spokeswoman
Carolyn Brown said the automaker was working with NHTSA and NTSB on
recommendations for safety enhancements but was not ready to make an
announcement.
"We continue
to evaluate technologies to make what we contend to be a safe vehicle
even safer," Brown said.
In trading on the
New York Stock Exchange, GM shares rose 11 cents to close Wednesday
at $35.91.
General Motors Corp.,
http://www.gm.com
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