Antilock Brake System (ABS)
All Silverado and Silverado HD models come equipped with a standard four-wheel antilock brake system (ABS) — a crash-avoidance feature that helps prevent wheel lockup during braking in most slippery road conditions. The brakes also include Dynamic Rear Proportioning, which regulates front and rear brake pressure to optimize performance under varying load conditions.

Driver Information Center (DIC)
The standard DIC features an array of alerts and a large display window that shows two rows of characters. Push-button controls are located next to the gauge cluster(1) for quick access to trip computer functions:

  • Trip/Fuel: Displays the odometer, trip odometer, fuel range, average economy, fuel used, timer, transmission temperature and Active Fuel Management™ indicator (if equipped).
  • Vehicle Information: Displays Silverado powertrain, security and chassis messages such as oil life, engine hours, engine hot or overheated, Tire Pressure Monitor,(2) door or hood open, washer fluid and StabiliTrak on/off.(3)
  • Customization: Customize vehicle features to your preference, including language, remote door lock and unlock, exit and approach lighting, loudness of vehicle chimes, seat memory recall and remote start enable.
  • Set/Reset: Set or reset certain vehicle functions as well as acknowledge DIC messages.

Front Air Bags With Passenger Sensing System
Driver and right-front passenger dual-stage front air bags(4) are just another way that Silverado 1500 models cover you in 360 degrees of safety. They are designed to supplement the safety belt system in the event of a frontal collision. Dual-stage air bags sense the severity of a crash and determine if the air bags should be deployed and whether a full or less-than-full amount of inflation will be used.

The standard Passenger Sensing System automatically switches the right-front passenger front air bag on or off based on the passenger's weight and the type of pressure on the seat.

Head-Curtain Side-Impact Air Bags
In Silverado 1500 models, available head-curtain side-impact air bags(4) help reduce the risk of injuries to all outboard occupants in certain side impacts. Deployed upon sensing a rollover, side impact or second-stage frontal impact, these air bags cover the first and second rows of Crew and Extended Cab models, or the driver and outboard passenger of Regular Cab models. Plus, they are designed to stay inflated for up to six seconds to help reduce the risk of ejection in the unlikely event of a rollover.

StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control System
StabiliTrak helps Silverado 1500 models surround you in 360 degrees of safety. This system helps improve vehicle stability, particularly during emergency maneuvers. The system, standard on Crew Cab models and available on select Extended Cab models, also includes Proactive Roll Avoidance, which reduces the risk of a rollover. Here's how StabiliTrak works:

  • The StabiliTrak control module compares your steering input with the truck's actual response and then, if necessary, makes small, individual brake applications to enhance control and keep you on track.
  • StabiliTrak automatically intervenes when it senses loss of lateral traction (sideslip), understeer (plowing) or oversteer (fishtailing).
  • In these situations, the system applies brake pressure and, if necessary, adjusts engine torque to help the driver get the vehicle back on track.
OnStar
OnStar(5) with a one-year Safe & Sound Plan is standard on Silverado and Silverado HD. An OnStar Advisor is always ready to help in a variety of situations, whether you've locked your keys in the vehicle,(6) have a flat tire or your air bags have deployed.(4)
Tire Pressure Monitor
This standard system, part of Silverado 1500 and Silverado 2500HD and 3500HD Single-Rear Wheel model's dedication to 360 degrees of safety, monitors the inflation level in each of the four road tires. This information is passed to the Driver Information Center (DIC), which can display the readout of each individual tire's pressure (excludes spare tire). And if any tire falls below a specified pressure, the driver is immediately alerted via a message in the DIC.
Car-Compatibility Bracket
Silverado 1500 models feature a car-compatibility bracket, which helps manage impact energy in head-on collisions with lower-profile vehicles such as cars and crossovers. This feature is horseshoe-shaped and attaches to the bottom of the front frame rail. When an impact occurs, the bracket is designed to "grab" the car's front bumper, helping reduce the risk of Silverado riding up onto the other vehicle.
Safety Cage
In Silverado 1500 models, a safety cage with enhanced body-side structure, rigidity and strength provides added protection in cases of front or side impact. Underbody reinforcements, including a diagonal reinforcement under the front footwells, reduce deformation and transfer of energy into the passenger compartment. Straighter, high-strength steel front frame rails and more efficient chassis design — with features such crush management indents and strategically located reinforcements — improve crash dynamics resulting in additional crush space and enhanced energy management.
Safety Belt Pretensioners
The safety belts in Silverado and Silverado HD models are improved and feature belts-to-body-of-the-truck design, as well as belt pretensioning with new energy management retractors (EMRs). In front impacts severe enough to deploy the front air bags, the pretensioners are designed to also deploy and reduce the slack in the safety belt, while the EMRs help manage the energy of the belt and gradually unwind it in order to limit the force of the belt on the occupant's body. Additionally, in severe-enough rear impacts, the pretensioners are designed to deploy and reduce the slack in the safety belt.

1 Driver Information Center controls are operated through the trip button unless steering wheel-mounted audio controls are ordered.

2 1500 and HD Single-Rear Wheel models only.

3 1500 models only.

4 A NOTE ABOUT CHILD SAFETY: Always use safety belts and the correct child restraint for your child's age and size. Even in vehicles equipped with the Passenger Sensing System, children are safer when properly secured in a rear seat in the appropriate infant, child or booster seat. Never place a rear-facing infant restraint in the front seat of any vehicle equipped with an active air bag. Air bag inflation can cause severe injury or death to anyone too close to the bag when it deploys. Head-curtain side-impact air bags are designed to help reduce the risk of head and neck injuries to front and rear seat occupants on the near side of certain side-impact collisions. Be sure every occupant is properly restrained. See the Owner's Manual and child safety seat instructions for more safety information.

5 Call 1-888-4ONSTAR (1-888-466-7827) or visit onstar.com for system limitations and details.

6 Remote Door Unlock success varies with conditions.