PRESS RELEASE
NHTSA Statement on Expected Final Rule on Depowered Air Bags
14 March 1997
Statement by Janet Dewey, Executive Director, Air Bag Safety Campaign On Expected Final Rule on Depowered Air Bags from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
WASHINGTON, March 13 -- The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) is expected to announce today or tomorrow final rules
to allow automakers to produce air bags that inflate with less force. Less
powerful air bags will make it more important than ever that adults always
wear both the shoulder and lap portions of safety belts on every trip. In a
crash, safety belts keep drivers and passengers back so that the air bag has
time to fully inflate. It is still critical that children 12 and under ride
in age and size appropriate safety seats buckled up in the back seat.
It is anticipated that it will take several months before these changes
will be implemented. The most important action that people can take today to
maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of air bags is to practice Air
Bag Safety and that means: Buckle everyone! Children in back!
Air bags save lives -- more than 500 in the last year alone. Air bags are
a supplemental restraint; they work best in combination with seat belts.
According to NHTSA, air bags are responsible for the deaths of 38 children and
23 adults. Tragically, investigations indicate that all but four of the
children who were killed were either improperly buckled or not buckled up at
all and that most of the adults killed were unbuckled or seated too close to
the steering wheel.
Educating the public about air bag safety is important, however, alone it
is not enough to assure that all drivers properly restrain children. Since
January, reports indicate that three small children riding completely
unrestrained on the laps of front seat passengers were killed when an air bag
deployed in a crash. Currently, the Campaign is working with safety advocates
in 20 states to upgrade child passenger safety and safety belt laws.
The Air Bag Safety Campaign is also working with law enforcement as they
participate in a 50-state mobilization to make unbuckled children
unacceptable. During Buckle Up America Week, May 19-26, law enforcement
officials will conduct high visibility enforcement activities to help focus
intense public and media attention on protecting children from death and
injury by air bag deployments.
The Campaign's research shows that 75% of Americans surveyed believe that
child passenger safety laws should be strengthened and/or enforcement should
be tougher. Stronger laws and high visibility enforcement of these laws are
critical to the Campaign's overall efforts to increase air bag safety.
For more information or to schedule an interview with Janet Dewey or
another Campaign spokesperson, please call the contact below.
The Air Bag Safety Campaign is a two-year intensive education and action
campaign by public/private partnership of automotive manufacturers, insurance
companies, occupant restraint manufacturers, government agencies, health
professionals, and child health and safety organizations. The goal of the
Campaign is to increase the proper use of safety belts and child safety seats
and to inform the public about how to maximize the lifesaving capabilities of
air bags while minimizing the risks.
SOURCE Air Bag Safety Campaign
CONTACT: Janet Goss or Paula Darte, 202-338-8700, for the Air Bag Safety Campaign