pag@sri-unix (08/06/82)
Cars Must Have Air Bags by 1984, US Court Rules
(Wall Street Journal, 8/5/82)
WAHINGTON -- A federal appeals court ordered auto makers to install air
bags or automatic safety belts in 1984-model new cars, rebuffing a governnment
plan to rescind the "passive restraint" requirement.
In Detroit, auto companies assailed the court's decision, saying passive
restraints are unneccessary because vehicles already are equipped with seat
belts. Most companies said they couldn't install passive-restraint systems
by the fall 1983 deadline.
Last year, the government estimated that the addition of passive-restraint
belts would raise car prices $75 to $100 and that air bags would boost car
prices #300 to $1,100, estimates that the Big Three auto makers generally
agreed with. GM estimated last year that it would have to invest $285 million
to comply with the passive restrain requirement, and Ford estimated its pro-
spective investment at $183 million.
The three-judge panel here ruled that the Transportation Department's
recent proposal to reconsider its October 1981 decision scrapping the require-
ment is only "open-ended decision-making," and doesn't benefit anyone.
On June 1, the three-judge panel overturned the ruling to scrap the require-
ment. In response, a month ago the department made its proposal to reconsider
the ruling.
The court's opposition to the Reagan administration's assault on the
passive-restraint rule could be an important roadblock in the administration's
overall deregulation effort.
In a statement issued after the court order, Rep. Timothy Wirth (D., Colo.),
chairman of the House Consumer Protection Sub-committee, called the court
order "a major setback for this administration's capricious attempt at
deregulation simply for its own sake -- without regard for its impact,
its cost or its implications for the health and safety of our citizens."
He called the order a "clear message" that the Reagan administration "cannot
flout the law."