General Motors says that it will introduce the auto industry’s first front centre airbag, an inflatable restraint designed to help protect drivers and front passengers in far-side impact crashes where the affected occupant is on the opposite, non-struck side of the vehicle.

The front centre air bag will be introduced on the Buick Enclave, GMC Acadia, and Chevrolet Traverse mid-size crossovers in the 2013 model year. This new safety feature will be standard on Acadia and Traverse with power seats and all Enclaves.

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The front centre air bag deploys from the right side of the driver’s seat and positions itself between the front row seats near the centre of the vehicle. This tethered, tubular airbag is designed to provide restraint during passenger-side crashes when the driver is the only front occupant, and also acts as an energy absorbing cushion between driver and front passenger in both driver- and passenger-side crashes. The airbag also is expected to provide benefit in rollovers, says GM.

GM says that its analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System database, found that far-side impact crashes, which the front centre airbag primarily addresses, accounted for 11% of the belted front occupant fatalities in non-rollover impacts between 2004 and 2009 involving 1999 model year or newer vehicles. These far-side fatalities, where the occupant is on the non-struck side of the vehicle, also represent 29% of all the belted front occupant fatalities in side impacts.

“The front centre airbag is not required by federal regulation, and no other airbag in passenger vehicles today offers the type of restraint and cushioning this air bag is designed to provide for front occupants,” said Scott Thomas, senior staff engineer in GM’s advanced restraint systems.

“The front centre airbag has real potential to save lives in side crashes,” said Adrian Lund, president of the insurance Institute for Highway Safety.  “GM and Takata are to be commended for taking the lead in this important area.”

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GM and technology supplier Takata developed the front centre airbag over the course of three years, testing many design iterations to achieve packaging, cushioning, and restraint for a variety of crashes and occupant positions. Numerous elements of the airbag’s jointly patented cushion design address the restraint’s unique performance characteristics while considering a range of occupant sizes.

“While no restraint technology can address all body regions or all potential injuries, the front centre airbag is designed to work with the other airbags and safety belts in the vehicles to collectively deliver an even more comprehensive occupant restraint system,” said Gay Kent, GM executive director of Vehicle Safety and Crashworthiness.

“This technology is a further demonstration of GM’s above-and-beyond commitment to provide continuous occupant protection before, during and after a crash.”