U.S. Releases Final Plan on Safer Air Bags

After more than a month of foot dragging, federal highway safety regulators released the final version of their proposal to make car air bags safer for children and small adult passengers by reducing the force of the devices. One rule, effective immediately, would extend an existing, temporary policy of allowing car makers to install air bag cutoff switches in cars and trucks without rear passenger seats. Another proposal by the National Highway Safety Administration would allow auto makers to reduce the force of air bag deployment an average of 20% to 35%. The Big Three U.S. auto makers back the new rules, which are subject to 30 days of public comment before going into effect.