GM to Put Stabilizers in Some Large Vans

DETROIT May 14, 2003; John Porretto writing for the AP reported that General Motors Corp., responding to concerns about rollover accidents, says it will make stability enhancement systems standard features in its 15-passenger vans.

GM 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.