Evaluation of Five Years of GM Funding for Public Information and Education Programs

Blomberg, Richard D.; Korbelak, Kristopher T.; Lardner, Mark D.; Cleven, Arlene M. · 2009 · ROSA P / United States. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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Summary

This report evaluates the effectiveness and utilization of public information and education (PI&E) grants funded by General Motors (GM) under a 1995 settlement agreement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agreement, which resolved an investigation into alleged fires in GM pickup trucks, required GM to spend over $51 million on highway safety initiatives, including at least $11.855 million specifically for PI&E programs over five years. The study, conducted by Dunlap and Associates, Inc., aimed to synthesize annual reports from grantees to determine how funds were used, what activities were accomplished, and whether the programs achieved measurable safety impacts or persisted after funding ended. The researchers analyzed 234 annual project reports submitted by grantees between 1995 and 2000. The PI&E funds were distributed across three focal areas: support of State safety legislation, support of enforcement of State safety laws, and support of safety organizations. The study employed a coding scheme to categorize project activities, media usage, and topics, and included six detailed case studies to illustrate specific project implementations. Additionally, the researchers conducted follow-up contacts with personnel from 24 of the 44 projects that reported in the final year to assess program persistence. The analysis revealed that approximately half of the PI&E funds ($6.844 million) supported the enforcement of State safety laws, while $2.566 million supported State safety legislation and $1.820 million supported safety organizations. Projects addressing alcohol impairment and seat belt usage were the most common, covering 61.1% and 68.4% of projects, respectively. Grantees utilized a wide variety of media, averaging 3.5 different forms per grant, including television, radio, print, and conferences. Case studies highlighted specific successes, such as Mississippi MADD’s role in passing zero-tolerance and ignition interlock laws, and Michigan’s Traffic Safety Association’s contribution to increased seat belt use and reduced alcohol-related crashes. Regarding persistence, 20 of the 24 contacted projects from the final funding year were still operational in 2008 and continued to pursue their original objectives. The study concluded that while definitive quantitative evidence of safety impact was limited due to a lack of formal evaluations in many projects, there was a consensus that GM funds were used productively. Small and large projects alike reported positive outcomes, with no discernible relationship between grant size and success. The funding enabled the initiation or enhancement of numerous traffic safety initiatives that might not have existed otherwise. The report also established a database of grantee information for future NHTSA analysis, documenting the collaborative effort between government and industry to enhance public safety through targeted education and enforcement support.

Key finding

Twenty of the twenty-four projects contacted from the final funding year were still in existence and following substantially the same objectives for which they had received GM grant funds.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 234

Provenance

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Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• public messaging
• seat belt use

Information type

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• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation, policy recommendations
• Empirical Findings: observational prevalence