Safety Officials to Change Air Bag Rules
Federal safety regulators will allow motorists to disconnect their cars’ air bags and will take steps to permit auto makers to design new air bags that inflate with less force, industry and government sources said.
The safety officials also will announce tougher warning labels about the explosive force of air bags, the sources said.
The measures, which will be announced by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials this morning, are designed to prevent inflating air bags from killing people--especially children.
Air bags deploying at up to 200 mph in the blink of an eye have been blamed for the deaths of 31 children and 20 adults--mostly smaller women.
The labels will contain stronger warnings and there will be more of them in vehicles, the industry and government sources said.
The government also is expected to take steps toward allowing manufacturers to install less-powerful air bags, but it was unclear whether it will do that immediately by agreeing to change a key government test. The test requires the bags to deploy fast enough to cushion an unbelted male dummy when a car is crashed into a wall at 30 mph.
Auto makers argue the test should be changed to a so-called sled test, which they say would better approximate crashes in the real world and allow them to retest vehicles quickly enough to install the new bags in six months.
It is illegal for a dealership or garage to disconnect an air bag for a vehicle owner. With a few exceptions, only the owner of a car can disconnect an air bag--and it’s difficult to do.
On a case-by-case basis, NHTSA’s chief counsel can write a letter saying the agency will not prosecute anyone who disconnects an air bag for a vehicle owner. However, the agency has sent only six such letters, most of them relating to medical disabilities.
When NHTSA outlined a plan in August to help prevent air bag deaths, the agency also asked for public comment on whether to extend cutoff switches for air bags to all vehicles. It was unclear whether on-off switches would be part of its announcement today.
Last year, NHTSA began allowing passenger-side cutoff switches in pickup trucks and sports cars with no rear seats.
Ford has the cutoff switch on the dashboard of its newer Ranger and F150 pickup trucks. When the air bag is deactivated by a key, a light goes on and remains on. Mazda also put the switch in some of its pickup trucks.
