Kempthorne Seeks New Air Bag Standards, Safety Hearings

U.S. Sen. Dirk Kempthorne has renewed his call for congressional hearings on automobile air bags, but he’s not sure if Americans should be able to disconnect them.

The devices now are designed and tested to protect a 165-pound man who is not wearing a safety belt.

The problem, the senator said recently, is in order to protect that unbelted man, air bags inflate with such force that they have killed 32 children and 20 adults.

“We need to change the standard,” Kempthorne said during a taping of KTVB-TV’s “Viewpoint” show.

“The government can’t protect everybody,” he said. Kempthorne suggested that women and children who are buckled in deserve as much protection as or more than the man who rides without a belt.

Kempthorne called for congressional hearings on air bags after 1-year-old Alexandra Greer of Boise was killed by one that inflated in a parking lot accident.

A government study indicates air bags reduce fatalities 11 percent for drivers and 13.5 percent for passengers age 13 and older, but do not help children under 12 at all.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is pushing for development of a new generation of air bags.

Kempthorne said he doubted that Congress would endorse making air bags optional equipment in automobiles, like air conditioning or sun roofs. And he is not certain what changing standards or bags would cost consumers.

Public scrutiny of air bags is increasing because of accidents like the one that killed the Boise infant.

However, some accident victims also are quick to credit the devices for saving lives.

Prominent businessman Larry Kissler, for example, was nearly killed this month in a head-on collision while driving his 1994 Lincoln Continental. Kissler now is recovering in a Boise hospital.

His family and the police officer who investigated the crash say Kissler’s driver’s side air bag saved his life.

“Despite the adverse publicity of air bags, we feel the opposite,” said Kissler’s daughter, Laura Colson.

“Our father is alive today because of an air bag.”

Kissler, 70, is co-owner of Norco, a medical supply company. He also is the president of the Rotary Club of Boise.

He was injured when his car collided with a vehicle trying to pass a semitruck.

, DataTimes