Background for Crash Protection Rules and Court Decisions

BACKGROUND FOR CRASH PROTECTION RULES AND COURT DECISIONS 

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 208 was one of the 20 initial vehicle safety standards issued in 1967. It required installation of lap and upper torso restraint belts in each front outboard seat of most cars and lap restraint belts in every other seating position. The requirement has changed several times over the last two decades. Manual seat belts were and are available in almost all cars in use but only a minority of passenger car occupants use belts. In order to increase usage for model year 1973 cars a continuous light and buzzer remained on until the front seat belts were fastened. Next, the seat belt-ignition interlock did induce an increase in safety 

From the outset attempts were made to introduce new technology for occupant protection in the form of passive restraints. In July 1969 an advanced notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled Inflatable Occupant Restraint Systems introduced the idea of air bags which would inflate during an accident to cushion occupants during the second collision between the occupant and the inside part of the car. The attractive feature of this safety device is that an individual can be passive since no action such as buckling is required of the occupants. A passive restraint standard was issued in 1971 but was overturned by the court until a suitable dummy could be developed for testing the performance of the restraints. 

The Coleman Rule called for a continuation of mandated safety belt installation but created a demonstration program to familiarize the public with passive restraints. Contracts were negotiated with four manufacturers for 500,000 cars equipped with passive restraints for model years 1980 and 1981. The rationale for the program was that passive restraints were technologically feasible, could be effective in reducing traffic deaths and injuries and could be produced at a reasonable cost. The rationale for not mandating passive restraints was threefold  

With the change in administration incoming Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams abandoned the Coleman Rule on the bases that public acceptance is not part of the traffic safety mandate, passive restraints clearly will be effective in improving traffic safety and the cost of the restramts will be more than offset through savings on insurance premium payments. In June 1977 under the Adams Rule, passive restraints were mandated for standard and luxury cars by the 1982 model year, for intermediate and compact size cars by the 1983 model year, and for subcompact and mini-size cars by the 1984 model year. The Adams Rule survived congressional and judidal review.  

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