Air Bag Changes A Tough Choice To Save Children Reducing Force Of Inflation Expected To Cost Lives Of Unbelted Adults

The federal government conceded Monday that its proposed air bag rules could save the lives of 83 children a year - but at the cost of up to 1,200 adults’ lives.

For the first time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided a statistical estimate of the trade-off it sees in changing air bags, which have been blamed for killing 52 children and adults even as they have saved 1,700 other lives in recent years.

As expected, the government rules proposed Monday would reduce the 200 mph inflation of air bags in new vehicles. They also would allow owners to have their air bags disabled by a mechanic. However, agency did not release expected proposals requiring so-called “smart bags” that adjust their punch to the size of the passenger.

Wearing seat belts appears to be the best way for adults to protect themselves from the force of an air bag. The best way to protect children under age 13 is to buckle them in the rear seat.

All the government’s estimates assume that all cars and trucks have dual air bags and that only two-thirds of Americans always buckle up. Less powerful air bags will be more effective for belted occupants than current air bags are.

However, the traffic safety agency says less powerful air bags will provide less protection for unbelted adults in severe crashes and will not entirely eliminate the risk to children. Less powerful air bags might save only 39 to 83 of the 128 children the government estimates would be killed each year if no changes are made, the agency said.

The agency will accept public comments on the proposals for 30 days and hopes to issue final rules quickly. Automakers say they need final rules by Feb. 15 if they are to get safer air bags in the first 1998 models rolling off the assembly line next spring.

President Clinton endorsed the plan in a radio address Saturday.

NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez, who is on vacation and was not available for comment, did not address the trade-off issue in his prepared statement. But in the past, Martinez has said he is “troubled by the trade-offs” and that “killing children is totally unacceptable.”

Others suggest the government had no other choice.

“We have a higher obligation to protect children than unbelted adults,” said Chuck Hurley, spokesman for the National Safety Council, a consumer safety group.

“Children can’t protect themselves and depend upon parents, care-givers and the government to protect them,” Hurley said. “Adults have a choice: They can choose to put on seat belts or not.”

Air bags have been blamed for the deaths of 32 children and 20 adults, most of whom were female drivers under 5 feet 4 inches tall. Most of those killed were not wearing seat belts.

The government will accept comments on two alternatives, both of which would reduce the bags’ punch by 20 to 35 percent. Both are seen only as interim solutions until “smart” bags can be refined and installed, starting, NHTSA hopes, in 1999 models.

One plan, proposed by NHTSA, would simply increase what injuries would be acceptable in existing crash barrier tests that use unbelted male dummies. The other, proposed by automakers, would replace the barrier test with a less costly sled test that would simulate crashes. Automakers argue this would allow them to adjust more air bags, more quickly.

According to NHTSA’s analysis, the automakers’ plan would result in more deaths of unbelted adults and a greater number of chest injuries than NHTSA’s plan would.

NHTSA estimates its own proposal may save 39 of the 128 children a year that now might be killed, but could result in 280 deaths of unbelted adult passengers and 207 drivers, most of them belted.

The automakers’ plan could save 83 children a year, but result in the deaths of 378 adult passengers and 825 unbelted drivers, NHTSA estimates. The test could result in three times as many severe chest injuries as NHTSA’s plan.

Until recently, NHTSA has opposed the automakers’ plan, in part because agency officials feared the cost to unbelted adults would be too great. However, now it appears Martinez and some of his key aides favor the automakers’ plan, although some within the agency think the cost to unbelted adults is too high.

The NHTSA proposal also included:

A final rule extending the existing policy of permitting automakers to put manual cutoff switches in vehicles without a back seat, or with a back seat too small to install a child safety seat.

A proposed rule that would permit dealers and repair shops to disconnect the air bags of any owner who requests it. Currently, it is illegal for a mechanic to do this. Consumers are allowed to disconnect the bags themselves, but there is always a risk they won’t do it correctly.