Calspan Corp. has won a $43.4 million contract extension from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to keep studying for the next five years how cars and trucks fare in crashes and what causes injuries in those accidents. Calspan executives said Wednesday that the extension is the biggest independent contract in the Cheektowaga-based company's history and will continue a program it has worked on since 1979.
The extension also extends for another five years an important part of the company's operations, accounting for about 25 percent of Calspan's business and providing jobs for 30 of its 250 local employees, said Thomas Pleban, the firm's executive vice president. "It was an important part of Calspan's business that needed to continue," Pleban said.
In all, about 130 Calspan employees work on the National Automotive Samplings System program, with most working out of 14 field research centers that are located throughout the eastern U.S. Calspan has been the eastern U.S. coordinator for the program since it began 27 years ago.
"It really is a continuation of the work," said Robert A. Woodill, the director of Calspan's Crash Data Research Center, who indicated that the contract could lead to the creation of additional jobs during the length of the agreement.
Under the program, Calspan collects information on tens of thousands of traffic accidents each year that government scientists, engineers and other researchers analyze to help improve vehicle design, safety standards and medical care.
The research includes on-site and follow-up investigations that also involve a review of police accident reports.