Smaller Cars Give GM Safety Center Bigger Role

The “barrier building” at General Motors Co.'s Milford Proving Grounds didn't always have a roof. In fact, it wasn't always a building. For a long time, it was just a barrier – a 140,000-pound rock strapped to the bedrock under Milford.

It is an unmovable object, a stone that has endured 17,269 collisions (and still counting). And it has never budged an inch. It's the centerpiece of what GM calls the barrier building and a building block for the automaker's Vehicle Safety and Crash Worthiness Lab.

GM has been smashing up vehicles since the 1930s and started using the barrier block in 1962. In 2006, GM upgraded its facility to the tune of $33 million and added a $10 million rollover crash facility. All told, safety engineers conduct more than 50 different tests and evaluate reams of data produced at the facility.

Now, GM is finishing its testing on the Chevrolet Cruze, a compact car set to arrive in September. As smaller cars take on a bigger role in the U.S. auto market, places like GM's safety center will play an even more important role, as engineers look for ways to make a little car hold up to a bigger one in a collision. GM expects a five star crash rating when the Cruze undergoes independent testing. It knows this based upon its performance in Milford.

Albert Ware, the lab director, said the initial safety testing is done through computer modeling and then results are verified through physical crash testing. “The depth of testing is incredible,” he said.

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