As discussed earlier in this notice, on November 11, 1997, NHTSA published in the Federal Register (62 FR 62406) a final rule exempting, under certain conditions, motor vehicle dealers and repair businesses from the "make inoperative" prohibition in 49 U.S.C. §30122 by allowing them to install retrofit manual on-off switches for air bags in vehicles owned by people whose request for a switch is approved by NHTSA. The final rule is set forth as Part 595, Retrofit On-Off Switches for Air Bags.
The purpose of the exemption is to preserve the benefits of air bags while reducing the risk of serious or fatal injury that current air bags pose to identifiable groups of people. In issuing that final rule, NHTSA explained that although vehicle manufacturers are beginning to replace current air bags with new air bags having some advanced attributes, i.e., attributes that will automatically minimize or avoid the risks created by current air bags, an interim solution is needed now for those groups of people at risk from current air bags in existing vehicles.
Just as NHTSA is proposing to phase out the temporary amendments to Standard No. 208 as the upgraded requirements are phased in, the agency is also proposing to phase out the availability of this exemption. Under the proposal, retrofit on-off switches would not be available for vehicles which have been certified to the advanced air bag requirements being proposed in today's notice.
NHTSA requests comments, however, on whether retrofit on-off switches should continue to be available under eligibility criteria revised to be appropriately reflective of the capabilities of advanced air bag technology. The agency observes that if such switches were to be available at all, the criteria would need to be much narrower since the risks would be smaller than they are currently. For example, the passenger side air bag in a vehicle with a weight sensor would not deploy at all in the presence of young children. Therefore, there would no safety reason to permit a retrofit passenger side on-off switch because of a need for a young child to ride in the front seat. The agency requests any commenters who advocate any continued availability of retrofit on-off switches to discuss how the existing eligibility criteria should be tailored to the specific technologies that would be used in vehicles certified to the advanced air bag requirements being proposed in today's notice.
