GM-UMTRI study confirms advanced safety technologies reduce crashes and injuries
2026-05-08
DETROIT — General Motors has long held that a future with zero crashes is not just an aspiration: it is a mission. New research from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) confirms that GM is making measurable progress toward that goal, with advanced safety features in GM vehicles delivering statistically significant reductions in crashes and injuries on public roads.
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The latest study – the eighth in a long-running research partnership between GM and UMTRI – examined approximately 12 million GM model year 2020-2024 vehicles and matched them to more than 700,000 police-reported crashes across 18 states.
The findings show that GM vehicles equipped with specific safety technologies have statistically significant lower rates of certain types of crashes, demonstrating that these features support crash avoidance and injury severity mitigation.
GM’s safety and driver assistance features that come standard in U.S. models under $30,000 MSRP1 (e.g. Buick Encore GX, and Envista, Chevrolet Trax, Trailblazer, and Bolt) include the following at a minimum:
These features and others are designed to help drivers avoid or reduce the severity of crashes, building on GM’s strong foundation of crashworthiness and occupant protection.
What the Numbers Show
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The results are striking. Among GM vehicles equipped with key safety features, researchers found:
“These findings give us real-world evidence that GM’s safety technologies are doing exactly what they’re designed to do: helping drivers avoid crashes and reducing injuries in everyday driving environments,” said Susan Owen, GM technical fellow, safety data analytics and field research. “By linking data from more than 700,000 police-reported crashes with the safety content in about 12 million GM vehicles, we can see with a high degree of confidence that these features are delivering meaningful benefits for our customers and everyone who shares the road.”
Rooted in GM’s Safety Mission
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These results are the product of a deliberate, values-driven approach to safety that GM has embedded into its culture and operations.
“At GM, product safety is embedded in who we are and how we work,” said Regina Carto, vice president, Global Product Safety, Systems and Certification. “We design safety into our vehicles from the beginning, and we reinforce it at every step. Studies like this confirm that when we deploy these technologies at scale, we can help reduce crashes and injuries in the real world, which is exactly what our customers expect from us.”
GM’s approach to safety is holistic: it brings together advanced vehicle technologies, safety advocacy and independent research to improve outcomes for drivers, passengers and everyone who shares the road.
The UMTRI partnership exemplifies that model: a rigorous, iterative cycle of deploy, measure, learn and improve. Each study builds on the last to refine existing features, prioritize new features to address crash types that cause the most harm, and strengthen evaluation methods as new data becomes available.
“Trusted research with organizations like UMTRI is essential to our safety mission,” Owen said. “It helps us understand where our technologies are most effective today, where there are further opportunities, and how we can evolve systems to address the highest remaining sources of crash harm.”
How the Research Was Conducted
UMTRI researchers focused on system-relevant crash types – including rear-end, roadway departure, pedestrian, lane-change and backing crashes. To estimate the effect of each safety feature, the team compared the rate of system-relevant crashes to control crashes (unaffected by the system) for vehicles with and without the feature. The analysis accounted for a wide range of potentially confounding factors including driver behavior, road conditions and vehicle type.
The Road Ahead: Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion
Carto said the UMTRI results will help inform GM’s ongoing safety technology development and support the company’s broader commitment to a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.
“Safety isn’t just a metric for GM, it’s a mission,” Carto added. “We will continue to invest in advanced safety and driver assistance features, partner with leading researchers and support safety advocacy efforts so that we’re addressing risk from every angle – from technology in the vehicle to behaviors on the road and improvements in the transportation system itself.”
1. Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price includes destination freight charge. Tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment not included. Dealer sets final price.
DETROIT — General Motors has long held that a future with zero crashes is not just an aspiration: it is a mission. New research from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) confirms that GM is making measurable progress toward that goal, with advanced safety features in GM vehicles delivering statistically significant reductions in crashes and injuries on public roads.
The latest study – the eighth in a long-running research partnership between GM and UMTRI – examined approximately 12 million GM model year 2020-2024 vehicles and matched them to more than 700,000 police-reported crashes across 18 states.
The findings show that GM vehicles equipped with specific safety technologies have statistically significant lower rates of certain types of crashes, demonstrating that these features support crash avoidance and injury severity mitigation.
GM’s safety and driver assistance features that come standard in U.S. models under $30,000 MSRP1,2 (e.g. Buick Encore GX, and Envista, Chevrolet Trax, Trailblazer, and Bolt) include the following at a minimum:
- Automatic Emergency Braking
- Front Pedestrian Braking
- Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning
- Forward Collision Alert
- IntelliBeam
These features and others are designed to help drivers avoid or reduce the severity of crashes, building on GM’s strong foundation of crashworthiness and occupant protection.
What the Numbers Show
The results are striking. Among GM vehicles equipped with key safety and driver assistance features, researchers found:
“These findings give us real-world evidence that GM’s safety technologies are doing exactly what they’re designed to do: helping drivers avoid crashes and reducing injuries in everyday driving environments,” said Susan Owen, GM technical fellow, safety data analytics and field research. “By linking data from more than 700,000 police-reported crashes with the safety content in about 12 million GM vehicles, we can see with a high degree of confidence that these features are delivering meaningful benefits for our customers and everyone who shares the road.”
Rooted in GM’s Safety Mission
These results are the product of a deliberate, values-driven approach to safety that GM has embedded into its culture and operations.
“At GM, product safety is embedded in who we are and how we work,” said Regina Carto, vice president, Global Product Safety, Systems and Certification. “We design safety into our vehicles from the beginning, and we reinforce it at every step. Studies like this confirm that when we deploy these technologies at scale, we can help reduce crashes and injuries in the real world, which is exactly what our customers expect from us.”
GM’s approach to safety is holistic: it brings together advanced vehicle technologies, safety advocacy and independent research to improve outcomes for drivers, passengers and everyone who shares the road.
The UMTRI partnership exemplifies that model: a rigorous, iterative cycle of deploy, measure, learn and improve. Each study builds on the last to refine existing features, prioritize new features to address crash types that cause the most harm, and strengthen evaluation methods as new data becomes available.
“Trusted research with organizations like UMTRI is essential to our safety mission,” Owen said. “It helps us understand where our technologies are most effective today, where there are further opportunities, and how we can evolve systems to address the highest remaining sources of crash harm.”
How the Research Was Conducted
UMTRI researchers focused on system-relevant crash types – including rear-end, roadway departure, pedestrian, lane-change and backing crashes. To estimate the effect of each safety feature, the team compared the rate of system-relevant crashes to control crashes (unaffected by the system) for vehicles with and without the feature. The analysis accounted for a wide range of potentially confounding factors including driver behavior, road conditions and vehicle type.
The Road Ahead: Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions, Zero Congestion
Carto said the UMTRI results will help inform GM’s ongoing safety technology development and support the company’s broader commitment to a world with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.
“Safety isn’t just a metric for GM, it’s a mission,” Carto added. “We will continue to invest in advanced safety and driver assistance features, partner with leading researchers and support safety advocacy efforts so that we’re addressing risk from every angle – from technology in the vehicle to behaviors on the road and improvements in the transportation system itself.”
1Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price includes destination freight charge. Tax, title, license, dealer fees and optional equipment not included. Dealer sets final price.
2Safety or driver assistance features are no substitute for the driver’s responsibility to operate the vehicle in a safe manner. Read the vehicle Owner’s Manual for important feature limitations and information.
GM-UMTRI study confirms advanced safety technologies reduce crashes and injuries
2026-05-08 14:00:00
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