ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 21, 1996 TAG: 9611210053
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
Federal officials are expected to delay for at least a month a decision on how to make auto airbags less deadly, meaning that safer bags probably won't arrive until the 1998 model year.
Each month, 1 million vehicles roll off assembly lines with powerful airbags that have proven deadly to 30 children and 20 adults, mostly short women.
The announcement on what the government proposes to do to take some of the deadly punch out of airbags had been expected Thursday, but may be delayed until next week, reportedly because higher-ups have not yet agreed.
But when it does come - after a year of agonizing debate - the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announcement is expected to lead to still more delay because NHTSA can't decide what the solution should be.
So, instead of setting standards for safer airbags, the federal safety agency will float two competing technical proposals and give the public 30 days to comment.
That NHTSA isn't ready to make a decision is unbelievable to many automakers and safety advocates who note the proposals have been under review by the agency since August.
Both proposals being considered by NHTSA would permit reduction of that powerful airbag blast - one using new test standards favored by the automakers, and the other using a modification of existing NHTSA standards.
``I'm speechless, and I'm seldom speechless,'' said Chuck Hurley, spokesman for the National Safety Council and a self-described airbag cheerleader for 20 years who says the flaws in airbags need fixing now.
Automakers say they need six months to redesign, test and certify systems with less aggressive airbags. By June of next year, they will be gearing up to roll 1998 models off assembly lines.
``I'd be surprised if you'd get any '97 models with safer airbags,'' said Vann Wilber, director of vehicle safety for the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.
``If there's no decision until January 1, which is how it looks now, only some of the '98 models would get new bags,'' he said.
NHTSA is expected to do this much: immediately mandate warning labels in new cars that would essentially put the front seat of airbag-equipped vehicles off limits to children 12 and under, and to lay out a timetable for mandating so-called smart bags that adjust their punch to the passenger's size and position.
NHTSA also may expand the use of cut-off switches in some vehicles and lay out guidelines for consumers wanting their airbags disconnected.
Depending on the make and model of a car, airbags now deploy from dash boards at 106 to 200 mph.
That force, designed to protect an unbelted male crash dummy from hitting the dashboard, has proved deadly to 21 children ages 3 to 10 and nine infants in rear-facing child seats since 1993. It also has proved deadly to some adult drivers.
LENGTH: Medium: 60 linesby CNB