GMC Canyon's jump seats innovate to keep kids safe [w/video]

Sat, 03 May 2014

We dig simple solutions to problems. There's something highly gratifying about making a minute change to fix something, rather than tearing up the playbook. That's what GMC has done with the new Canyon midsize pickup.

When putting a car seat in, car seat manufacturers require that at least 80 percent of the seat's base fit on the bottom cushion. That's a big problem in extended-cab pickups like the Canyon, which feature jump seats with shorter bottom cushions, in place of the larger, more traditionally designed bench.

The Canyon gets around this with extendable jump seats - simply pop out the headrest and slot it into the bottom seat cushion, and the truck can now easily accommodate a child's seat.

"It's an elegant solution that makes efficient use of the limited space in the rear seat in this type of vehicle, by allowing us to adapt the seat cushion length for child restraint installation," Eduardo Bugelli, the Canyon's safety performance team lead, said in statement. "The additional seat cushion length provides more support to the child restraint, which helps to reduce the rotation and the risk of injury in a crash."

All in all, it's a pretty darn clever idea to a problem we imagine as being fairly common in the world of pickup trucks. To see the system in action, scroll down and have a look at the video.

All-New GMC Canyon Brings Safety Firsts to Midsize Trucks
Active safety technologies and patent-pending child restraint safety feature

DETROIT – When the all-new 2015 GMC Canyon launches this fall, it will not only bring a full payload of midsize truck segment-leading capabilities, but segment safety firsts including a patent-pending child safety feature.

Smaller jump seats found in extended cab midsize trucks may have too little lower seat cushion length to meet many child restraint manufacturer's recommendation to have at least 80 percent of the child restraint base fit on the seat cushion. General Motors' engineers have designed a patent-pending solution for the 2015 Canyon extended cab to help keep kids in child restraints safer in a collision.

Using the rear jump seat headrest on the passenger side of the extended-cab Canyon, the jump seat cushion can be extended by removing the head rest and inserting it horizontally into the seat base. This helps the extended-cab Canyon satisfy the seat base recommendation of most child restraint manufacturers.

"It's an elegant solution that makes efficient use of the limited space in the rear seat in this type of vehicle, by allowing us to adapt the seat cushion length for child restraint installation," said Eduardo Bugelli, safety performance team lead. "The additional seat cushion length provides more support to the child restraint, which helps to reduce the rotation and the risk of injury in a crash."

In addition to this patent-pending design, the all-new Canyon will be the first midsize truck to offer Forward Collision Alert and Lane Departure Warning technology as part of the available Driver Alert Package.

Forward collision alert technology helps prevent frontal crashes by alerting the driver when the truck is closing in on a vehicle ahead too quickly, giving the driver additional time to react and avoid a crash.

Lane Departure Warning technology can alert the driver when the truck drifts over a lane line when traveling at least 35 mph.

In a collision, the Canyon's all-new cab structure is made from over 70 percent high-strength steel to better protect its occupants. It also comes standard with six air bags, including head curtain side air bags that can also reduce the risk of occupant ejection.

Safety and convenience technology continues with a standard rear vision camera and available next-generation IntelliLink infotainment system. IntelliLink can seamlessly integrate the capability of a smartphone into the vehicle so that hand-held phones may be safely stowed while driving. Features such as smartphone voice recognition pass through, including text message support and Siri Eyes Free, enable the driver to be alerted to new text messages and have them read aloud and respond, depending on the functionality of the smartphone). Siri Eyes Free enables iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 users to access Siri via the steering wheel controls and check calendar entries, have text messages read and respond to them, place calls or call up music.

Android phone users can also use the steering wheel controls to access their phone's voice recognition features.

The Canyon will be assembled at GM's Wentzville, Mo., assembly plant. GMC will continue to work on and develop the Canyon until the start of production in fall 2014.

About GMC
GMC has manufactured trucks since 1902, with innovation and engineering excellence built into all GMC vehicles. The brand is evolving to offer more fuel-efficient trucks and crossovers, including the Terrain small SUV and Acadia crossover. GMC's highest-volume vehicle, the Sierra pickup, is the most powerful light duty pickup on the market, and the first full-size pickup to receive the highest possible five-star Overall Vehicle Score for safety since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration changed its New Car Assessment Program for the 2011 model year. Details on all GMC models are available at http://www.gmc.com/, on Twitter at @thisisgmc or at http://www.facebook.com/gmc.

By Brandon Turkus