DETROIT, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- General Motors Corp. has awarded a contract to Germany's Continental AG for new safety features aimed at avoiding collisions and near-collisions.
GM plans to install a new system that helps motorists avoid crashes and protects passengers when crashes can't be averted, the Detroit Free Press said Friday.
GM also hopes also to end an old habit of taking too long to adopt such innovations. The U.S. automaker now can commit to a supplier's technology in less than a year where a decade ago, the carmaker's purchasing executives say, that process would have taken GM three to five years.
Attached beneath the grill, the safety system calculates the speed of the vehicle if a crash is possible and applies needed braking power.
If the crash can't be avoided, other automatic functions are triggered, such as closing the sunroof and the front seat being moved into an upright position to better protect the driver at impact.
