U.S. Mulls Revising Testing of Air Bags

The federal government announced it is considering revising procedures for testing air bags after auto industry criticism that current rules would force a return to high-powered bags that can cause harm to small adults and children. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it is weighing whether it should drop the maximum speed of a rigid barrier crash for dummies simulating unbelted occupants to 25 mph from 30 mph. Front-mounted air bags are credited with saving thousands of lives since their widespread introduction in 1990, but they have sometimes killed smaller adults and children in the front seats in even minor accidents. As an interim measure, the government allowed manufacturers in 1997 to reduce inflation forces and permitted consumers to install cutoff switches in 1998. NHTSA then started the process of developing new standards for the next generation of advanced restraints.