# Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection; Review: Fatality Reduction by Air Bags; Evaluation Report > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-26023 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Notice - **Published:** October 10, 1996 - **Citation:** 61 FR 53260 ## Text DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [Docket No. 74-14; Notice 102] RIN 2127-AD82 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection; Review: Fatality Reduction by Air Bags; Evaluation Report AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Department of Transportation. ACTION: Request for comments on technical report. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: This notice announces the publication by NHTSA of a Technical Report concerning Safety Standard 208, Occupant Crash Protection. The report's title is Fatality Reduction by Air Bags--Analyses of Accident Data through Early 1996. It evaluates the front-seat occupant fatality rates of current passenger cars and light trucks equipped with air bags, and compares them to the fatality rates of similar vehicles without air bags. DATES: Comments must be received no later than January 8, 1997. ADDRESSES: Report: Interested people may obtain a copy of the report free of charge by sending a self-addressed mailing label to Publications Ordering and Distribution Services (NAD-51), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Comments: All comments should refer to the docket and notice number of this notice and be submitted to: Docket Section, Room 5109, Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington DC 20590. [Docket hours, 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles J. Kahane, Chief, Evaluation Division, Plans and Policy, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Room 5208, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590 (202-366-2560). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Safety Standard 208 (49 CFR 571.208) requires automatic occupant protection, such as air bags or automatic belts, to be phased into passenger cars (1987-90) and light trucks (1995-98). As mandated by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991, driver and passenger air bags plus manual 3- point [[Page 53261]] belts will be required in all cars manufactured on or after September 1, 1997 and light trucks on or after September 1, 1998. Pursuant to Executive Order 12286, NHTSA is evaluating the occupant protection program to determine the effectiveness, benefits, costs, performance characteristics and public acceptance of automatic occupant protection and the nationwide effort to increase belt use. Under the Executive Order, agencies review existing regulations to determine if they are achieving the Order's policy goals. An evaluation plan was issued in 1990 (56 FR 1586). A June 1992 interim report (57 FR 30293) showed that increased use of manual belts, air bags, and automatic belts were all contributing to a reduction of fatalities and injuries. The current report focuses on fatality reduction by air bags. It is based on statistical analyses of accident data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System (FARS) from 1986 through early 1996. The principal conclusion is that driver air bags save lives. The fatality reduction benefit of air bags for all drivers is an estimated 11 percent; this percentage is essentially unchanged from previous analyses by NHTSA staff. New, positive findings are that driver air bags save lives in light trucks and in small cars, that passenger air bags save lives of right-front passengers age 13 or older, and that driver air bags provide a significant supplemental life-saving benefit for the driver who buckles up (as well as saving lives of unbelted drivers). On the other hand, preliminary analyses of limited accident data show a higher fatality risk for child passengers age 0-12 in cars with current dual air bags than in cars without a passenger air bag. Also, current air bags may have diminished, or even negligible benefits for drivers age 70 or older, and they do not have a statistically significant effect for drivers of any age group in oblique-frontal crashes. NHTSA welcomes public review of the technical report and invites the reviewers to submit comments about the data and the statistical methods used in the report. The agency is interested in learning of any additional data that could be used to expand or improve the analyses, including information on individual accident cases involving vehicles equipped with air bags. If a commenter wishes to submit certain information under a claim of confidentiality, three copies of the complete submission, including purportedly confidential business information, should be submitted to the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the street address given above, and 7 copies from which the purportedly confidential information has been deleted should be submitted to the Docket Section. A request for confidentiality should be accompanied by a cover letter setting forth the information specified in the agency's confidential business information regulation. (49 CFR Part 512). All comments received before the close of business on the comment closing date will be considered, and will be available for examination in the docket at the above address both before and after that date. To the extent possible, comments filed after the closing date will also be considered. The NHTSA will continue to file relevant information as it becomes available in the docket after the closing date, and it is recommended that interested people continue to examine the docket for new material. People desiring to be notified upon receipt of their comments in the rules docket should enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard in the envelope with their comments. Upon receiving the comments, the docket supervisor will return the postcard by mail. Authority: 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30168; delegation of authority at 49 CFR 1.50 and 501.8. William H. Walsh, Associate Administrator for Plans and Policy. [FR Doc. 96-26023 Filed 10-9-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-59-P --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-26023. Public record. Not legal advice.