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Abstract
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The opinion "UAW strike may hasten Detroit's decline" in the Wall Street Journal by Clifford Winston tortures the history of automotive safety. Winston (Citation2023) wrote:
Government policies that have reduced auto makers' competitiveness include inefficient safety and environmental rules and mandates. Regulations mandated installation of various safety devices, such as shatterproof windshields and energy-absorbing steering columns, that raised auto makers' costs but didn't reduce overall highway deaths. Legislation required auto makers to install air bags on both sides of the front seat by 1998, increasing costs and risking the safety of smaller passengers.
In the 1960s, the US government regulated performance standards on steering systems, windshields and other components as part of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (US Congress Citation1966). Automotive manufacturers and suppliers developed energy absorbing (EA) steering columns (Marquis Citation1967; Horsch et al. Citation1991) and high penetration-resistant (HPR) glass (Reiser and Chabal Citation1970) that were introduced in vehicles with padded dashboards to protect unbelted occupants. Virtually every safety study found them effective in lowering risks. NHTSA found a 12.1% reduction in fatalities with EA steering systems and 38% reduction in serious injury from contact with the steering system (Kahane Citation1981). NHTSA found a 74% reduction in injury with HPR windshields (Kahane Citation1985). NHTSA found other regulations effective (Kahane Citation2015).
NHTSA also required seatbelts in vehicles starting in 1968 (Federal Register Citation1966). However, the motoring public ignored them with only 7% seatbelt use in a 1979 study (Morris, Clark Citation1980). This prompted NHTSA to require automatic crash protection (or passive restraint), which evolved into various automatic seatbelt designs or airbags (Kratzke Citation1995). After years of vacillating on passive restraints, Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole reached the practical decision to require automakers to install airbags and manual seatbelts and to encourage States to pass seatbelt use laws (Dole Citation1985). This resulted in regular seatbelt use and supplemental airbags that have proven effective in preventing death and injury. NHTSA (Citation2009) found airbags and seatbelts saved 28,244 lives through 2009 with 51% effectiveness in preventing fatalities and 52% in preventing serious injuries. However, there were 292 driver and right-front passenger deaths from inflating airbags from 1989-2003. This prompted NHTSA (Citation2001) to issue advanced airbag requirements that have essentially eliminated the early problems....
Language: en |