[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 217 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56554-56559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-27781]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
49 CFR Part 571
[Docket No. 74-14; Notice 97]
RIN 2127--AG14
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Request for comments.
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SUMMARY: Air bags are now standard equipment in millions of passenger
cars, light trucks, sport utility vehicles, and vans and widely
regarded to be a noteworthy safety advance, especially in higher speed
crashes. However, air bags--even air bags with a lap/shoulder belt
being used--are not a cure-all for every type of injury in crashes. The
agency is aware of situations in which current air bag designs have
undesired side effects. These include situations in which an air bag
appears to have contributed to serious injuries and even death to
vehicle occupants.
This document is intended to inform the public about NHTSA's
actions to minimize these adverse side effects and to invite the public
to share information and views with the agency.
DATES: Comments must be received by December 26, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Comments should refer to the docket and notice number of
this notice and be submitted to: Docket Section, Room 5109, National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW,
Washington, DC 20590. (Docket Room hours are 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday
through Friday.)
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen R. Kratzke, Office of Vehicle
Safety Standards, NPS-10, National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Mr.
Kratzke can be reached by telephone at (202) 366-5203 or by fax at
(202) 366-4329.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Air bags are being offered on more and
more light vehicles (i.e., cars, pickup trucks, vans, and sport
utility vehicles). A decade ago, very few vehicles offered air bags
and those that did were almost exclusively expensive luxury cars.
In response to public demand, nearly every 1996 model year
passenger car will be equipped with dual air bags as standard
equipment. Installation of air bags is being accomplished in
advance of federal statutory requirements that dual air bags be
provided in all 1998 and later model year cars, and all 1999 and
later model year light trucks and vans.
Air bags have an impressive overall performance record. Since 1987,
they are estimated to have saved 911 lives. NHTSA estimates that in
1994 alone, air bags saved 374 lives. The agency fully expects these
numbers to continue to increase.
The agency emphasizes that the presence of an air bag does not mean
that it is less important for occupants to use their safety belts. Air
bags are supplemental restraints. The primary means of occupant
restraint, the safety belt, works in all types of crashes and is
particularly effective in preventing ejection, where the air bag has
limited benefits. NHTSA estimates that in 1994, safety belts saved
almost 9,200 lives and prevented more than 211,000 moderate
[[Page 56555]]
to critical injuries. The combination of wearing safety belts and
having an air bag installed at a seating position provides vehicle
occupants with maximum safety protection in all types of crashes.
Applying appropriate scientific techniques, NHTSA has been
carefully monitoring the real world performance of air bags, including
any side effects, for more than a decade. The agency published an
Evaluation Plan for front-seat occupant protection in January 1990 (55
FR 1586; January 17, 1990), which calls for periodic interim analyses
of effectiveness (a final evaluation of effectiveness will not be
possible until after air bags have been standard equipment for some
time on high production volume cars). An Interim Evaluation Report,
including analyses of fatality and injury reductions, was published in
June 1992. The agency also submitted a Report to Congress on this
subject in November 1992. The agency's analyses indicated that air bags
are producing benefits for vehicle occupants. NHTSA plans to update its
interim analyses of effectiveness early in 1996.
NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) provides
comprehensive, high quality data on highway crashes. These data are
used to relate human, vehicle, environmental, and roadway
characteristics to crash frequency and the severity of injuries
sustained in those crashes. NCSA has developed several programs for
providing these data. The Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS)
provides basic information on all highway crashes in the U.S. in which
one or more people die of their injuries within 30 days of a crash. The
National Accident Sampling System (NASS) provides information from
investigations of a statistical sample of police reported crashes at
all levels of injury severity. As part of NASS, detailed investigations
of 5,000 highway crashes are conducted annually to provide information
on crash dynamics, injury mechanisms, and consequences of those
mechanisms, and to support occupant protection research and rulemaking.
To supplement the NASS system, the Special Crash Investigation Program
conducts from 50 to 75 in-depth investigations per year, concentrating
on crashes involving air bag deployments. Paper copies of individual
investigations and electronic data files are available to the public.
For more information contact NCSA at (202) 366-5394.
In addition, NHTSA's Office of Research and Development has a
number of on-going projects examining specific air bag issues. A
discussion of these projects can be found in the technical paper
discussed later in this notice.
There are certain situations in which air bags can have adverse
side effects. As more and more vehicles are equipped with them, these
side effects have become better known to researchers. The agency wants
to act expeditiously to ensure that these adverse side effects of air
bags are minimized or eliminated.
This notice summarizes what NHTSA knows about side effects of air
bags and how it plans to minimize them in the future. NHTSA is also
asking manufacturers, insurers, members of the medical community, and
any other interested members of the public to share information about
air bag designs or experience.
In a frontal crash, the occupant moves forward toward the
windshield and instrument panel prior to air bag deployment. The air
bag inflator must produce enough energy to inflate the air bag fully in
about 25 milliseconds to ``cushion'' the occupant before the occupant
strikes the vehicle interior. The energy necessary to inflate the air
bag in such a short time interval can cause injury or even fatality to
an occupant who is not properly restrained, especially to children,
given their small stature and light weight.
The table below shows, in no particular order, the types of
situations in which the agency has some information suggesting there
may be a risk of serious injury to vehicle occupants from the air bag.
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Seating position of Probable cause of
Group affected primary risk problem
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Unrestrained Small Statured Driver Position..... Proximity to Air Bag
and/or Older People. at Time of
Deployment.
Infants in Rear-Facing Child Passenger Position.. Proximity to Air Bag
Restraints. at Time of
Deployment.
Children Unrestrained in Passenger Position.. Proximity to Air Bag
Front Seat. at Time of
Deployment.
Out-of-Position Occupants... Driver and Passenger Proximity to Air Bag
Position. at Time of
Deployment
Persons with Disabilities... Driver Position..... Proximity to Air Bag
at Time of
Deployment;
Adaptive Equipment
between Air Bag and
Driver; Safety
Features in Vehicle
Must be Modified to
Accommodate
Adaptive Equipment.
Persons Experiencing Driver and Passenger Unknown; Under
Extremity Injuries. Position. Study.
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It appears from this table that the primary task is to reduce the
risk to occupants who are very near the air bag at the time of
deployment. Such actions, however, won't necessarily help persons with
disabilities.
NHTSA has already taken steps to address the problem of infants in
rear-facing child seats by warning parents of air bag/infant restraint
interaction problems through consumer advisories and warnings on infant
restraints, on sun visors, and in owner's manuals. NHTSA's position is
that rear-facing child seats should be used only in the rear seat of a
vehicle with a passenger-side air bag.\1\ In addition, on May 23, 1995,
NHTSA published a final rule amending Standard No. 208, Occupant Crash
Protection, to allow manufacturers the option of installing a manual
device that motorists could use to deactivate the front passenger-side
air bag in vehicles in which infant restraints can only fit in the
front seat.
\1\ A complete description of various steps NHTSA has taken to
address this problem can be found in a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
published on October 7, 1994 (59 FR 51158).
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For air bag vehicles already on the road or being produced in this
model year, the agency's primary efforts will be directed at better
educating the public about the characteristics of air bags and the
steps which the public can take to minimize the likelihood of
experiencing adverse side effects from air bags. On October 27, 1995,
the agency issued a consumer advisory focusing on preventing children
from being injured. The consumer advisory recommends three specific
steps: (1) always restrain children properly, (2) put them in the back
seat whenever possible, and (3)
[[Page 56556]]
when they must ride in the front seat, move the seat back as far as
possible--away from the air bag. NHTSA will continue to work with state
safety officials, national safety and medical organizations, vehicle
manufacturers, insurers, and interested citizens to educate the public
in this area.
In addition, anyone with knowledge of an unusual injury or fatality
resulting from a low speed or other crash involving an air bag-equipped
vehicle is urged to report this information to NHTSA's Auto Safety
Hotline at (800) 424-9393 or (202) 366-0123.
For vehicles manufactured far enough in the future to incorporate
significant design changes, NHTSA believes that there will be
technological enhancements available that could minimize the unintended
side effects of air bags. Vehicle manufacturers and air bag suppliers
are now working on highly advanced air bags, often called ``smart
bags.'' These smart bags include advanced technologies for occupant
sensing, phased deployment of air bags, and so forth. These
technologies will be able to perform a number of functions, including
preventing air bag deployment when they sense that an occupant is too
close to the point of deployment, inflating the air bag at different
speeds according to the severity of the crash, and preventing the bag
from deploying in the absence of an occupant at that seating position.
Based on discussions with suppliers and vehicle manufacturers, NHTSA
anticipates these types of smart bags will eventually be widely
incorporated into production. The agency will step up its monitoring of
manufacturer efforts to use smart bags, especially the technologies
being explored, the practicability and reliability of smart bag
systems, and the timetables for availability of smart bag systems.
While NHTSA anticipates that these smart bag systems will
substantially minimize adverse side effects of air bags in the not too
distant future, this still leaves the question of what can be done in
addition to public education for the near future. Manufacturers may be
able to make adjustments to existing air bag systems. Further, NHTSA
may be able to make temporary adjustments to its regulations if it is
shown to be necessary to enable manufacturers to minimize any adverse
side effects during this period.
For example, Ford has requested that NHTSA amend its crash testing
procedures in Standard No. 208. The standard currently requires test
dummies to be protected in a 30 mile per hour (mph) crash both when
wearing safety belts and when not wearing the belts (i.e., protected by
the air bag alone). Ford asked that the test speed for the unbelted
dummies be lowered to 25 mph, while the test speed for the belted
dummies be raised to 35 mph. According to Ford, this change would allow
manufacturers to better ``tune'' the interaction between the air bag
and the safety belt so as to optimize the protection afforded to
occupants who use their belts. Ford stated that the current testing
procedure forces manufacturers to base occupant protection designs
solely on the air bag, rather than the interaction between the air bag
and the belt. Ford believes that such a change can reduce air bag-
induced injuries.
In response to this request, NHTSA prepared a detailed preliminary
technical assessment of the issues presented in Ford's request. This
technical assessment sets forth the agency's knowledge with respect to
injuries from air bags. To help move public discussion forward in this
area, NHTSA has placed copies of its technical assessment of the Ford
request in the public docket for this rulemaking. Interested members of
the public are invited to comment on the Ford proposal and to review
this assessment to gain a better understanding both of what is known
and of what is not known by NHTSA about injuries from deploying air
bags, as well as the agency's plans for further research and data
analyses in this area. Copies of the technical assessment can be
obtained from the Docket Section at the address given above or by
telephone at (202) 366-4949.
The agency hopes that this request for comments will help the
agency obtain the information needed to make reasoned decisions about
whether some regulatory changes are needed for the interim period,
whether some simple technological fixes are available to minimize side
effects until smart bags become a reality, or whether other activities,
such as consumer information, offer the best chance of effectively
minimizing these side effects.
Persons with disabilities may have problems with air bags in
addition to those that result primarily from their proximity to the air
bag at the time of deployment. While many drivers with disabilities may
have a problem because of having to sit very near the steering wheel,
they may also face unique problems because of the special adaptive
equipment needed to allow them to drive. This adaptive equipment may
reduce the protection afforded by air bags by interfering with their
deployment. In September 1994, the agency issued a consumer advisory
cautioning drivers with disabilities not to use steering control
devices mounted on a bar installed across the steering wheel hub (a
``spanner bar'').
Light trucks that meet certain criteria, defined as ``vehicles
manufactured for operation by persons with disabilities,'' are not
required to provide automatic protection until September 1, 1997.
Automatic protection may be either an air bag or an automatic belt. As
a practical matter, NHTSA believes that light truck manufacturers will
install air bags as the only type of automatic protection in their 1998
model year vehicles because of the Federal law that requires air bags
in all their vehicles as of September 1, 1998 (the 1999 model year).
NHTSA does not now have sufficient data to allow the agency to decide
if air bags will pose any unique problems for drivers with disabilities
because of the interaction with the special adaptive equipment needed
to allow people with disabilities to drive. However, the agency will
conduct testing during fiscal year 1996 to examine this subject in
detail. This testing will allow NHTSA to take any necessary regulatory
and/or consumer information actions before the current exclusion for
drivers with disabilities expires in September 1997.
Questions for the Public
To aid the agency in obtaining useful comments, NHTSA is including
an appendix to this notice which consists of a number of specific
questions and requests for data. For easy reference, the questions are
numbered consecutively. NHTSA encourages commenters to provide specific
responses for each question for which they may have information or
views. In addition, in order to facilitate tabulating the comments by
issue, the agency encourages commenters to respond to the questions in
sequence, and to identify the number of each question to which they are
responding.
NHTSA requests that commenters provide as specific a rationale as
possible, including an analysis of safety consequences, for any
positions that are taken. Commenters with a technical background are
encouraged to provide scientific analysis of these matters. The
automobile manufacturers and air bag component and system suppliers are
requested to define major milestones for future plans and give
estimated completion dates. The agency appreciates that much of this
information may be confidential business information and will treat it
in accordance with statutory requirements.
[[Page 56557]]
The list of questions does not purport to be an all inclusive list
of items or information which the public may have available and believe
is valuable in assessing the issues. Commenters are encouraged to
provide any other data that they believe are relevant.
Public Meeting
NHTSA anticipates holding one or more public meetings on this
subject after the written comments have been received.
Rulemaking Analyses and Notices
Executive Order 12866 and DOT Regulatory Policies and Procedures
This document seeks public input on possible regulatory and
nonregulatory responses to an emerging issue. It does not contain any
regulatory changes that have so far been identified as sufficiently
likely to warrant calculation of possible benefits and costs. The task
of calculating costs is further complicated by the fact that while some
of the regulatory changes would mandate changes to existing air bag
designs, those changes would not involve the addition or deletion of
easily identifiable design elements or features. NHTSA has not analyzed
the impact of this notice under E.O. 12866 and the Department of
Transportation's regulatory policies and procedures. If at some time in
the future the agency proposes some regulatory action, it will make the
determinations in connection with that future action.
Executive Order 12612 (Federalism)
NHTSA has analyzed this notice in accordance with the principles
and criteria contained in E.O. 12612, and has determined that it does
not have significant federalism implications to warrant the preparation
of a Federalism Assessment.
Submission of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit comments. It is requested
but not required that 10 copies be submitted.
All comments must not exceed 15 pages in length. (49 CAR 553.21).
Necessary attachments may be appended to these submissions without
regard to the 15-page limit. This limitation is intended to encourage
commenters to detail their primary arguments in a concise fashion.
If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim
of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including
purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to
the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above, and seven
copies from which the purportedly confidential information has been
deleted should be submitted to the Docket Section. A request for
confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth
the information specified in the agency's confidential business
information regulation. 49 CAR part 512.
All comments received before the close of business on the comment
closing date indicated above will be considered, and will be available
for examination in the docket at the above address both before and
after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the
closing date will also be considered. Comments will be available for
inspection in the docket. The NHTSA will continue to file relevant
information as it becomes available in the docket after the closing
date, and it is recommended that interested persons continue to examine
the docket for new material.
Those persons desiring to be notified upon receipt of their
comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped
postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the
comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail.
List of Subjects in 49 CFR Part 571
Imports, Motor vehicle safety, Motor vehicles.
(Authority: 49 U.S.C. 322, 30111, 30115, 30117, and 30166;
delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50)
Issued on November 6, 1995.
Barry Felrice,
Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards.
Appendix--List of Questions
Field Experience With Air Bags
As discussed above, NHTSA relies on data from FARS and NASS,
including the Special Crash Investigation Program, to monitor air
bag performance in crashes. However, the public, particularly
insurers, vehicle manufacturers, and the medical community may have
information that would supplement the NHTSA data regarding air bag
performance in crashes.
1. Please provide any available air bag performance information
in the following areas, separately for each calendar year from 1987
to the present 2:
2 September 1, 1986 was the start of the phase-in of
automatic protection for all new passenger cars. Automatic
protection means a vehicle must offer either air bags or automatic
belts. Accordingly, 1987 was the first year for which any
substantial number of vehicles with air bags were on the road.
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a. The total number of air bag deployments in crashes during the
calendar year;
b. The air bag deployments in crashes for each make/model of
vehicle;
c. The total number of air bag deployments in crashes in which
the crash severity was 15 mph or less or in which little damage
occurred to the vehicle; and
d. Any cases of deployment in which the air bag may have
contributed to serious injuries or fatalities for occupants - if
such cases are identified, please provide details about the position
in which the occupant was seated (driver or passenger position), the
injured person's gender, age, height, and weight, whether the
occupant was belted, unbelted, or in a child restraint, and the
source for this information (e.g., police report, insurance claim,
hospital report, etc.).
e. Any cases of deployment in which the air bag may have saved
lives, prevented injuries or reduced injury severity, etc.
NHTSA requests that when insurance companies provide data about
field experience, it would be very helpful if they would include the
number of vehicles they insured in each calendar year (insured
vehicle years).
2. What information is available concerning the reduction or
increase in different types of injuries and injury severities that
may be associated with the introduction of air bags? The medical
community is especially requested to respond to this question.
Crash Sensing
NHTSA's data indicate that situations in which air bags appear
to have contributed to serious or fatal injuries have occurred at
crash severities below 15 mph, some even below 10 mph, with minimal
damage to the vehicle. The agency is asking the public to provide
information that would help NHTSA assess the range of deployment
thresholds currently chosen by vehicle manufacturers for their
different vehicles, why those differences exist, and the
manufacturers' efforts to adjust and redefine the algorithms used to
determine whether the air bag should deploy. Specifically, the
agency would like to learn:
3. What algorithms and calibrations do manufacturers use to
determine when the air bag should deploy in each of their vehicles?
4. What are the reasons why that threshold for air bag
deployment was chosen (e.g., corresponds to the speed at which an
unbelted occupant would experience facial fractures from steering
wheel, speed at which unbelted occupant would be likely to
experience serious chest injuries, etc.)?
5. NHTSA believes that manufacturers generally specify different
deployment thresholds for different vehicles. Is this belief correct
and, if so, what are the reasons why different deployment thresholds
are specified (e.g., more interior room in vehicle, different
intended use of vehicle, different target purchasers, etc.)?
6. How do the deployment thresholds specified for different
vehicles correlate to the speed the thresholds represent in a
frontal crash test into a fixed rigid barrier?
Air Bag Inflators
Ford indicated in its request to the agency that it could reduce
the air bag inflator onset
[[Page 56558]]
rate simply by decreasing the amount of propellant contained in the
inflator. Ford said that such a change could be made quickly and
would, in Ford's opinion, reduce the incidence of air bag-induced
injuries, particularly to upper extremities, and allow more optimal
tuning of current safety belt systems.
7. Please provide as detailed information as possible about
current air bag inflators, including inflator tank pressure curves,
the effect of reduced propellant on those pressure curves and the
overall performance of the inflator, and inflators that use dual or
multiple staged inflation. The agency is particularly interested in
learning why manufacturers have chosen the particular
characteristics for the inflators used in their vehicles (e.g.,
cost, simplicity, etc.) and the leadtime that would be needed to
change inflator characteristics in production vehicles.
Air Bag Design
NHTSA knows that there are many variables in air bag design that
may affect the performance of air bag systems in the field. The
agency would like to learn if there are data that indicate any of
these variables significantly affect the performance of air bag
systems. The variables NHTSA has identified thus far include:
--Air Bag Volume
--Air Bag Fold Patterns
--Air Bag Tethering
--Air Bag Venting
--Air Bag Mass/Material
--Shape and Size of Air Bag Module Opening
--Module location and deployment path
To help answer questions about these variables, NHTSA would like
to learn:
8. What are the parameters for each of the above variables on
the air bags used in current vehicles?
9. To the extent that a manufacturer uses different parameters
on different vehicles, what are the reasons for the difference?
10. What other variables not identified above affect air bag
performance, and what is the basis for that belief?
11. What is the estimated leadtime needed to change each of
these variables in production vehicles, and what are the reasons for
why such leadtime is needed?
Proximity Considerations
Most of the fatalities involving air bags have occurred to
children and small statured adults who were unbelted or otherwise
improperly restrained, possibly out of position, and very close to
the air bag at deployment. To assist the agency in identifying
possible approaches to mitigate the problem in these circumstances,
the public is asked to provide any data or information that may be
available on the following subjects:
12. Is there a quantified minimum safe distance from the
inflator nozzle/air bag at the time of deployment for air bags
generally or for any particular air bag designs? If so, please
provide that information and the data in support of that distance.
For the following questions, NHTSA is especially interested in
all the data and information that support the response given. In
addition, the agency would like the public to identify the trade-
offs that would be involved in taking any of these actions.
13. Do ``top mounted'' air bags substantially reduce the adverse
side effects at the passenger position?
14. Can the adverse side effects be substantially reduced by
recessing the inflator/air bag either in the steering wheel assembly
or in the dash?
15. Would displacement of the inflator away from the occupant at
deployment substantially reduce the adverse side effects?
16. Would pedal adjusters (which move the pedals closer to the
driver and allow the driver's arms instead of leg length to
determine how close the driver must sit) reduce adverse side effects
of air bags by allowing drivers to sit further back?
17. Would telescoping and/or tilt steering wheel assemblies
substantially reduce the adverse side effects of air bags?
18. Can advanced sensors, which would either sound a warning or
not deploy when an occupant was too close to an air bag,
substantially reduce the adverse side effects of air bags?
19. Would safety belt pre-tensioners reduce the risk of air bag
deployment injuries?
20. What laboratory test procedures and devices do manufacturers
use and find appropriate to assess inflation hazards to occupants in
close proximity to the driver or passenger air bag?
Near Term Considerations
The agency would like to know if there are near term (six months
to one year) changes which could significantly reduce the
probabilities of the serious injuries and fatalities attributed to
air bag deployment. The agency is aware that some possible near term
changes to air bags could involve safety tradeoffs; i.e., reducing
certain types of injuries while allowing increases in others,
offering higher protection at higher speeds at the expense of lower
speed crashes, or protecting certain types of occupants (e.g.,
belted or those of small stature) at the expense of others (e.g.,
unbelted or large occupants). The agency would like to obtain
information on possible near term changes and any safety tradeoffs
associated with such changes. NHTSA is particularly interested in
the effects of any potential changes on particular groups, such as
young adults and children, and occupants of the growing light truck
and van market, where belt use has traditionally been lower.
21. What would be the safety consequences of permitting manual
air bag cut-off switches? Are there policy or other considerations
that warrant treating the driver's and passenger's positions
differently? How difficult would it be to retrofit such devices for
vehicles on the road?
22. It seems that a change in deployment threshold could be made
relatively quickly simply by modifying the calibration of the
sensors or the algorithm used for deployment. What is the estimated
leadtime needed to change the deployment threshold used in current
air bag designs, and why is that amount of leadtime needed to make
such a change?
23. What would be the safety consequences of a reduction or
modification of the inflation rate?
24. How quickly can the manufacturers develop module locations
that are recessed in the steering wheel or the instrument panel?
Future Plans
The agency is aware that much effort is underway to develop
various levels of ``smart'' air bag systems. These smart air bag
systems may range from dual threshold sensors that deploy the bag at
different crash severities by recognizing whether the occupant is
restrained or unrestrained (such systems are already in some luxury
vehicles) to systems that include items such as:
Variable inflation rates
Occupant seat sensors
Proximity detection/sensing
Dual or multi-stage inflators/sensors
Dual or variable venting, etc.
25. Please provide detailed information concerning the
technologies and strategies being considered in each of the above
areas, as well as any other advanced air bag concepts, and the
potential and expected dates of implementation.
Obstacles to Near and Long Term Plans
26. The agency requests information and explanations of any
obstacles that may hinder advancements in reaching near or long term
solutions to these problems. These could include or require changes
in present regulations or the development of new regulations. Please
provide recommendations for any agency actions that could be
beneficial, the rationale for that action, and its safety
consequences (quantified, if possible).
27. As discussed above, Ford has requested that the agency
reduce FMVSS 208's unbelted test speed from 30 mph to 25 mph.
According to Ford, this would make it easier for it to reduce the
air bag inflation speed, thereby reducing low speed air bag
injuries.
a. If NHTSA were to make a short-term change in FMVSS 208 to
facilitate quick reductions in air bag inflation speeds (i.e., a
change that would apply until manufacturers can implement smart air
bags or other design changes to address low speed air bag injuries),
how would manufacturers respond? What would be the specific safety
consequences of such a change, including possible adverse
consequences for unbelted occupants and for occupants in much higher
speed crashes?
b. A reduction in FMVSS 208's unbelted test speed might not be
the only way to facilitate quick reductions in air bag inflation
speeds. For example, NHTSA could possibly retain the 30 mph unbelted
test but temporarily increase the chest loading maximum of 60 g's
for that test. FMVSS No. 208 currently specifies the same chest
loading maximum for both the belted and unbelted tests. The agency
notes that a preliminary review of recent biomechanical data
generated for NHTSA suggests that the human tolerance to
acceleration for serious chest injury may be higher for air bags
than for belts, because the air bag delivers a more broadly
distributed, uniform loading to the chest than does a safety belt.
Would
[[Page 56559]]
manufacturers respond to this type of change differently than for the
change suggested by Ford? What would be the specific safety
consequences of such a change, including possible adverse
consequences?
Air Bag Issues Related to Persons With Disabilities
28. What has been the experience in modifying air bag-equipped
vehicles to be driven by persons with disabilities? What type of
problems have been encountered? Have the drivers been pleased with
the results?
29. Has any person with a disability that you know of been
involved in a crash in which the air bag deployed at his or her
seating position?
30. Were any of these persons apparently saved from serious
injury by the air bag? If so, please describe the situation.
31. Has any person with a disability been injured by the
deployment of an air bag in a vehicle (mpv, car or truck)? If so,
please provide as much information as possible on the event.
32. Is it very common that children with disabilities (whether
small enough to use a child seat or not) must for health reasons sit
in the front seat to be near the driver, when the driver is the only
adult in the vehicle. Of these, how many can not use conventional
seat belts, or child seats, due to their disabilities?
33. How many persons in the U.S. use steering control devices
mounted on steering wheels containing air bags? What is your source
of data, or how would you estimate this number?
34. What types of conditions in persons with disabilities would
make them more susceptible to injury from an air bag (driver or
passenger) than any other person in the same seating position? Would
these people also be more susceptible to seat belt-induced injury?
[FR Doc. 95-27781 Filed 11-6-95; 11:29 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-P
