WASHINGTON DC – New regulations proposed on Wednesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) mean that automakers will be all but required to equip new vehicles with side-curtain airbags by 2009, auto technology that could save some 700 lives each year.
The agency will set new side-impact crash standards that have separate standards for head protection in addition to thorax and abdomen protection for more passengers in the vehicle. Its expected that most manufacturers will meet the new rules by adding curtain airbags to the increasingly hefty safety equipment mandated by federal rules.
The proposed changes to existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard rule 214 could become law as soon as 2005.
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