Green Light for Air Bags

Each day in the U.S., an average of 130 people die in auto accidents--the equivalent of a major air crash every 48 hours. Last week the Government took its boldest step yet in trying to reduce the carnage. Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams ordered automakers to begin installing air bags or other "passive restraint" safety devices on big cars by the 1982 model-year and on all cars by 1984. Said Adams: "Too many people have needlessly been injured or killed in crashes where passive restraints could have saved them. I cannot in good conscience be a party to further, unnecessary delay."

Adams estimated that the devices will save 9,000 lives each year because drivers cannot avoid using them (some 80% of drivers and passengers do not buckle their lap and shoulder belts now). Air bags do not require a motorist to do anything; they inflate instantly upon the impact of a collision, keeping the driver and front-seat passengers from being hurled against the dashboard or windshield. To be fully effective, however, an air-bag system should be supplemented with a lap belt--which is not passive. Only one other passive-restraint system exists, a shoulder harness that automatically protects the driver when the door is closed.

Adams' decision went well beyond one by his predecessor, William Coleman, who in January got a commitment from General Motors and Ford that they would make 440,000 air-bag-equipped cars starting in fall 1979. But it did not end the nine-year debate over the bags. Ralph Nader, who together with other consumerists and the Allstate Insurance Co. had lobbied hard for the bags, was disappointed by the four-to six-year lead time granted automakers to install the devices. Sniffed Nader: "If the industry can build a Mustang in 30 months, it could be speeded up to install air bags and belts."

Though Detroit automakers have been opposed to air bags, their reaction was mixed. GM and Ford sounded as if they were tired of fighting. GM pleaded that they would "do the best possible job" to comply with the ruling; Ford Vice President Herbert Misch praised Adams for the long lead time.

Without Evidence. But Chrysler grumped that Adams' decision would "force the American people to pay triple the cost for a second-best safety system." It charged that Adams "ignored his own agency's data, which show that present seat belts will save 50% more lives than air bags"--assuming, of course, that seat belts are consistently used. American Motors said the ruling was made "without clear evidence of [the bags'] lifesaving effectiveness over present belt systems [and] is a multi-billion-dollar gamble with consumers' money."

Adams' ruling also faces attack in Congress, which in 1974 gave itself the right to veto any such decisions by the Transportation Department within 60 days. The Secretary had barely made his announcement when Bud Shuster, a Pennsylvania Republican, introduced a resolution in the House to overturn the decision. He cited, among other things, the bags' cost. Detroit automen have estimated that a reliable bag system would add $200 to $300 to the price of a car; the Government's figure is about half that. Indications are, however, that Congress will go along with the ruling.

The biggest problem with air bags so far is that they have not sold well: GM last year dropped bags as an optional extra on Cadillacs and other large cars because so few people bought them. The evidence is good for the effectiveness of bags in saving lives and minimizing injuries in city and highway traffic; in 92 crash situations involving cars equipped with air bags, most of the drivers escaped with either no injuries or only minor ones. Detroit still faces the necessity of perfecting a bag system that will work flawlessly every time, even years after the car has left the factory. With a defective bag, the driver would be unprotected--and automakers would spend more time than ever defending themselves against lawsuits.

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