| tigmd99 |
By Jayne O'Donnell
USA Today
WASHINGTON — Automakers are warning that “smart” airbags required starting next year are, in effect, so dumb they could kill or injure children and fail to protect adults in crashes.
At least three suppliers have pulled smart-bag technology off the market for more development. One of them, Siemens, says it doesn’t have any system that can’t be fooled if an occupant shifts around in the seat or a child is in a heavy child seat, and doubts whether anyone else does. “Any (smart) system can be compromised,” says Siemens’ David Ladd.
Automakers are scrambling to find new suppliers, but doubt that the few remaining can make enough foolproof smart systems.
As a result, what are billed as safety devices could be harmful.
“Safety devices shouldn’t hurt anyone,” says Ford safety expert Priya Prasad. He says Ford, once optimistic, has lost some confidence in the bags. Conventional airbags “are 99.99 percent reliable,” says Toyota regulatory affairs director Chris Tinto. “These (smart) systems aren’t anywhere near that.”
The bags, required by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, are called “smart” because they are supposed to sense what size passengers they’re protecting, and adjust inflation force accordingly. The bags are supposed to turn off and not deploy if the passenger is a child.
Earlier bags inflated full-force for everyone. That was too much for some; at least 215 people, including 133 children, have been killed by airbags since 1990.
NHTSA chief Jeffrey Runge acknowledges that “this is an extraordinarily expensive rule that is taxing the creativity and ingenuity of auto engineers.” But NHTSA has refused to halt the phase-in of smart bags, beginning next September on 2004 models. |
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| roadrunner |
I guess I'm not too surprised as I have seldom seen any technology that worked all the time - in every instance. Still, judging by the little yellow light - the passenger seat in my X always seems to get it right. I never have children riding in the front seat but if I put a bag of groceries or my briefcase on the seat it always responds. Also I noticed whenever my wife leans forward to put on makeup or falls asleep leaning against the window it also always responds.
Meep Meep |
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