U.S. Transportation Secretary Slater Announces Partnership With Ford Motor Company, Inova Fairfax Hospital In Establishing Crash Injury Research Center

Topics:  Rodney E. Slater, Ford Motor Company

NHTSA
May 24, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 21-00

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Contacts: NHTSA, Belinda Rawls , (202) 366-9550
Ford, Sharon Drury-Grant, 202-962-5381
Inova, Janice Moore, 703-698-2270

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater, joined by representatives of Ford Motor Company and Inova Fairfax Hospital's Regional Trauma Center, today announced a partnership to reduce injuries and deaths from motor vehicle crashes. The partnership will establish the ninth Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) center in the United States.

"The new Ford Inova Fairfax Hospital crash injury research center is an excellent example of public/private partnership and innovation working for the benefit of all Americans," Secretary Slater said. "I applaud Ford and Inova Fairfax Hospital for their commitment to safety, the highest transportation priority of the Clinton-Gore Administration."

Research at the Ford Inova Fairfax Hospital CIREN Center will focus on head trauma, the leading cause of death from motor vehicle crashes, and other severe injuries. Researchers also will study the effects of new safety technologies, such as side impact air bags, pretensioning seat belts and dual-stage air bags.

"We are honored to be partners in CIREN and to be working with such highly regarded partners and medical institutions on the common cause of driver and passenger safety," said Samir M. Fakhry, M.D., chief of trauma services at Inova Fairfax Hospital. "It's rewarding to know that data we generate from researching car crashes in northern Virginia will impact the safety design of vehicles for drivers around the world."

The Ford Inova Fairfax Hospital CIREN Center will be unique among the CIREN centers in its ability to gather real time data from crash scenes through a partnership with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. Additionally, engineers from Ford and George Washington University's Loudoun County, Va., campus will provide support.

Study results from crash sites, vehicle wreckage and patient interviews will be evaluated with the goal of identifying motor vehicle design features that offer maximum crash avoidance and occupant protection. Once completed, the data will be published for review by the medical community, design engineers and the public.

Ford is helping to make the Fairfax Hospital CIREN center possible by providing a $1 million grant for two years of research with an option to extend the contract for three additional years.

"We believe in providing new safety technology that provides real world protection to as many customers as soon as it is practical," said Helen Petrauskas, Ford Motor Company Vice President of Environmental and Safety Engineering. "This partnership will expand our expertise by allowing us to draw on the knowledge and research of those who respond to and treat crash victims firsthand."

Created in 1996 by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), CIREN's mission is to reduce the severity of injuries and gain a better understanding of crash dynamics to reduce deaths, disabilities, and human and economic costs. CIREN centers are linked by a computer network that allows researchers to review crash and injury data and share their expertise.

NHTSA already directs eight CIREN centers throughout the United States. The CIREN centers analyze real-world incidents to discover more about the specific causes of crashes than could ever be learned through the use of simulated crash situations involving dummies.

"The CIREN system is America's auto safety brain trust," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Rosalyn G. Millman. "It draws on the tremendous expertise and ingenuity of those in both medical and engineering fields."

NHTSA's eight other CIREN centers are the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Baltimore; University of Medicine and Dentistry/New Jersey Medical School, Newark, N.J.; Children's National Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; Lehman Injury Research Center, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami; University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Harborview Injury Prevention Center, Seattle; the San Diego County Trauma System, San Diego, and the Mercedes-Benz CIREN Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Research findings and other information on CIREN is on the Internet at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/include/bio_and_trauma/ciren-final.htm.