U.S. Agency Proposes Delay in Automatic Car Restraints
The government has proposed giving auto makers up to four more years to install automatic restraints such as air bags in all new cars sold in the United States, the Transportation Department announced on Friday.
Some auto safety advocates reacted sharply to the tentative decision, charging the Administration with giving in to the demands of the auto industry.
Passive Safety Belts
Auto manufacturers are required under a regulation adopted more than two years ago to protect front seat occupants by installing passive safety belts, which automatically wrap around a car occupant, or air bags in all new cars by September, 1989.
But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an agency within the department, announced that it was proposing a change in the regulation that would extend the deadline “several years” and possibly to September, 1993.
The agency said it has concluded that an extension “is warranted by the various technical, engineering and supplier resource problems” that hinder development of passive restraints for both driver and front-seat passengers by the 1989 deadline.
Ford Suggested Delay
Extension of the deadline was suggested last July by Ford Motor Co., which in return offered to put air bags on the driver side only in “a majority” of its North American-designed automobiles beginning with the 1990 model year.
Manufacturers have favored installation of automatic belts over the more expensive air bags, which automatically inflate to protect the driver in an accident.
Under the proposed regulations, the manufacturers would be allowed to keep manual safety belts, which are now required, on the front-seat passenger side in any car that is equipped with an air bag on the driver side.
Reacting to the tentative decision to approve the request, Robert Munson, director of automotive safety at Ford, said that it “gives the manufacturer the flexibility to install driver-side supplemental air bags in large volume.”
General Motors Corp. issued a statement saying that the proposed change “could assist manufacturers in developing non-belt restraint technology, including air bags,” but the manufacturer did not elaborate on whether GM might provide air bags in more cars.
The proposal was immediately criticized by Sen. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), one of the staunchest congressional advocates of air bags. He characterized the plan as giving in to the manufacturers while demanding no guarantee that they will widely embrace air bag technology.
Called a Step Backward
Clarence Ditlow, director of the Center for Auto Safety, said the regulatory change would be a step backward in auto safety that would “deprive (front-seat) passengers of the same superior life-saving technology (afforded) . . . the driver.”
The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register next week and go through a 30-day comment period. But the rule-making process usually takes months, sometimes more than a year, to complete, officials said.
