Footwell intrusion contributed to the possibility of injury to the lower right leg. The Pontiac Grand Am was redesigned for the 1999 model year and the Oldsmobile Alero was introduced in the 1999 model year. Special safety features The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has evaluated the crashworthiness of the Grand Am in a 40 mph frontal offset crash test into a deformable barrier. Head restraint and bumper designs are evaluated separately. The driver space wasn't maintained well in the frontal offset crash test, and footwell intrusion contributed to the possibility of leg injury.
Measures also indicate the possibility of head injury.
There was moderate intrusion into the driver footwell area and moderate rearward movement of the instrument panel. POOR Dummy movement wasn't well controlled. During rebound, the dummy moved toward the driver door, which had bowed outward, and its head contacted the window sill. Then the head moved up and back and hit the B-pillar. Plus there was too much upward movement of the steering wheel, which could compromise restraint system performance in other crashes.