Side Air Bag Rule?
It looks like next month Federal official will reveal a new requirement for automakers to install side air bags by the early part of the next decade.
In watching numerous crash tests, and researching various cars and SUVs, it only seems like its time to make side air bags a requirement. Read more here.
Side-impact crashes are the second most common fatal type after frontal crashes, killing 9,200 people in 2005. The percentage of fatalities caused by side-impact crashes is on the rise -- from 31 percent in 1980-81 to 49 percent in 2004-05.
That's at least partly because frontal air bags are required in today's vehicles (and have reduced frontal-crash fatalities), and side air bags are not, said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Also, Lund said, "growing sales of SUVs and pickups have exacerbated height mismatches among passenger vehicles, thereby increasing the risks to occupants of many vehicles struck in the side."
In watching numerous crash tests, and researching various cars and SUVs, it only seems like its time to make side air bags a requirement. Read more here.
