New Rules to Allow for Air Bag Switches

The Clinton administration will announce new rules today allowing certain motorists to have on-off switches installed for the air bags in their cars, industry and government officials said. The move is in response to the deaths of dozens of children and adults--many of them short women--from the force of deploying air bags. Motorists must sign paperwork certifying that they fit into one of several high-risk categories of people before a switch could be installed. Motorists who lie in filling out the paperwork could be prosecuted for perjury under the same section of law that covers lying on other official documents. The switches will cost between $150 and $200, including labor, industry experts estimate.