The strength of the International Center for Automotive Medicine (ICAM) research team at Michigan is derived not only from the surgeons and researchers at the Trauma Burn Center, but also from the intense collaborative involvement of biomechanical engineers, public health researchers, and crash investigators who have been conducting in-depth crash investigations and experimental impact biomechanics research for more than 30 years. The proximity of ICAM at the University of Michigan to the extensive safety design and engineering expertise of the automotive industry and its suppliers enables frequent and timely exchanges of information. Safety and test engineers can provide the ICAM team with important information about vehicle and restraint design and performance that is useful in analyzing injury and crash data. Conversely, armed with insight provided by crash analyses, vehicle safety engineers can make more rational and timely design decisions that can reduce the likelihood of injury and long-term disability in motor vehicle crashes.