Press Release February 19, 1997	Contact: Linda Wagner, 914-378-2433 Andy Norton, 914-378-2436 Consumers Union Yonkers Office

CONSUMERS UNION URGES CAUTION IN NEW AIR-BAG RULES

YONKERS, NY -- Stressing that air bags have saved the lives of some 1,700 unbelted, adult-sized passengers in higher-speed collisions, Consumers Union has urged the federal government to exercise caution when modifying existing airbag standards to protect improperly restrained children and small adults at risk of death or injury from airbag deployment in lower-speed collisions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) had invited the public to comment on its proposed modification of air-bag standards. Earlier this month, Consumers Union (CU), the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, filed comments supporting NHTSA’s plans to reduce the relatively small number of deaths directly attributable to air bags deployed at low speeds. CU urged the agency, when changing standards toward a short-term solution, to consider the safety of all passengers driving at various speeds. CU’s comments included these points:

• NHTSA should consider changes in air bag standards that will decrease to the maximum extent possible the number of deaths of improperly restrained infants, children and small adults from bag deployment in relatively low-speed collisions while continuing to protect full-size, unbelted adult passengers in relatively high-speed collisions to the extent consistent with the safety of smaller passengers.
  
• Any new standard should specify a minimum barrier equivalent velocity (BEV). CU’s Technical Director, Dr. R. David Pittle, explains: "Most of the children who have died due to deployed air bags have been in low-speed crashes, in which the wearing of a seat belt alone would have prevented death. If the bags were set to deploy only at higher speeds--in the range of 15-20 mph and higher--we believe it would reduce significantly the risks to children and small adults without resulting in an increase in deaths and injuries in higher-speed collisions." CU’s comments note that the technology to accomplish this goal already exists.
  
• NHTSA should determine whether fatalities caused by air bags in low-speed collisions may be disproportionately high in specific makes and models of passenger vehicles; the key difference seems to be in the air bag’s positioning on the instrument panel, from which the bag deploys, and the crash speed at which the bag deployed.
  
• NHTSA should not make it easier to deactivate air bags. "We acknowledge the serious risk that air bags may present in certain cases, and we never underestimate the horrendous tragedy of a child’s unnecessary death," said Dr. Pittle. "However, the recent media splash about air-bags has not provided consumers with the complete and balanced information necessary for wise decisions about the safety of the entire family in crashes at both high and low speeds."
  
• Current federal regulation permits a manual cutoff switch for air bags in vehicles with no rear seat (where smaller passengers would ride more safely), and for vehicles whose rear seats are too small to accommodate a rear-facing child safety seat. The manual cutoff-switch options should not be extended beyond the class of vehicles for which it is now authorized.
  
• NHTSA should allow air bag depowering (reducing the bag’s inflation pressure to result in a softer bag). However, to insure that each vehicle’s air bag is best adapted to that vehicle’s characteristics, NHTSA should continue to test in each car, rather than adopt a proposed universal sled test. Also, NHTSA should retain its unbelted dummy test for airbags until seatbelt usage in the U.S. increases to the level now found in Europe, which is over 90%.
  
• Any change in air-bag standards should not reduce the effectiveness of safety belts.
  

In its comments to NHTSA, CU also stated: "The long-term solution will be ‘smart bags’, which may adjust inflation speed to the weight, height, and/or seat positioning of the driver or passenger involved and which could have the additional economic benefit of not inflating if a seat is empty."

According to statements made to the press, NHTSA expects to announce a decision about its proposed modification to air-bag standards in mid to late March.

While modifications of air-bag standards are under discussion, drivers and passengers can take these precautions suggested in the February 1997 issue of Consumer Reports:

• Never put a rear-facing child safety seat in the front seat of a car with a passenger-side air bag.
  
• Anyone too small for safety belts should ride in the rear seat and, of course, wear the proper restraint.
  
• The front-seat passenger should always buckle his or her safety belt and move the seat as far back as it will go.
  
• Stay as far back from the steering wheel as you comfortably can—at least 12 inches. If you can’t reach the pedals, consider using pedal extenders ($80 to $150), from firms supplying auto equipment for people with special driving needs.