Industry Presses for New Air Bag Test

U.S. and international auto makers agreed that the U.S. should change a testing requirement to allow them to install air bags that deploy with less force. The consensus, reached during a two-day conference in Canada, puts more pressure on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to change the test. Air bags deploying at up to 200 mph have been blamed for the deaths of several people. The Big Three auto makers have been pushing to decrease air bag deployment force by 20% to 30%, arguing that less forceful air bags would mean fewer deaths and injuries. Through their industry group--the American Automobile Manufacturers Assn.--the domestic auto makers have argued that less forceful air bags cannot be installed unless the government changes its test, which requires the bags to deploy fast enough to cushion an unbelted male dummy when a car is crashed into a wall at 30 mph. The car makers would prefer a test that would better approximate crashes in the real world, which mostly are of less force but take place over a longer time.