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Press Release September 14, 1998 |
Contact: Elisa 202/462-6262 |
WASHINGTON --Consumers Union (CU), publisher of Consumer Reports, applauds the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) proposed regulation on advanced air bags.
Congress mandated in legislation enacted this year that NHTSA should propose methods for improving the safety of air bags, including so-called "advanced air bags." During deployment, such air bags are designed to adjust their performance to account for the size and weight of the vehicle's occupants, thereby reducing the risk of injury or death.
"CU is particularly pleased about two provisions of the proposed rule," said R. David Pittle, CU's Vice President and Technical Director. "The first is the phased-in return to the barrier test for vehicle crash testing. This is a real-world test that tells us far more about a vehicle's crash worthiness than the generic sled test currently in use under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208. Secondly, requiring air bags to meet safety requirements for people of different sizes-1-,3- and 6-year old child dummies, a small (5th percentile) female dummy and an average-size (50th percentile) male dummy-is a common sense approach and is long overdue."
While mandating that NHTSA issue a final rule on advanced air bags no later than March 1, 2000, Congress this year passed a law that required the final rule become effective in phases beginning on September 1, 2002, with all provisions to be fully effective by September 1, 2006. The proposal is open for comment for the next 90 days.
