First in the industry: GM launched the first central front airbag on the Lambda crossover in 2013

In the past few years, many important advances have been made in car safety. Thanks to technology and unremitting attention to engineering, new cars today are much safer than they were five and ten years ago.

The efforts are paying off in saving lives; the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports traffic fatalities on American roads are lower than ever. That is something to applaud, but as long as people are dying there is more work to be done. Today General Motors is releasing an industry-first center front airbag system. It was developed in partnership with GM supplier Takata.

The system deploys between the driver and front passenger, and provides an effective cushion between the driver and front passenger during driver- and passenger-side collisions. The aim is to limit the impact of the two colliding. When the driver is alone it serves to limit travel of the neck and body over into the passenger seat, something likely to reduce neck injuries. The center airbag adds to the plethora of airbag systems already available to maximize passenger protection. The system will be available on GM’s updated 2013 model Lambda crossovers, which include the Chevrolet Traverse, Buick Enclave and GMC Acadia.

It will become a standard feature on Acadia and Traverse models equipped with electric seats, as well as all Enclave models. Lambda crossovers are very popular, considering most of them are used as home porters, for the first time on these models The appearance is meaningful. Ford recently made its own progress with seat belt airbags on the new Explorer. We are very pleased to see GM making such an industry-leading effort, and this new system seems to be a strong selling point for GM's crossovers. General Motors released the video below, showing a side collision with no system and with a system. This is an interesting watch, let us understand some of the benefits it will bring.