Automotive Industry Trends
GM Supports the NHTSA's Advanced Air Bag Regulations
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The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently announced an advanced air bag rule requiring that future air bags create less risk of serious air bag-induced injuries than current air bags, particularly for small women and young children and provide improved frontal crash protection for all occupants.
The rule imposes performance requirements on automakers to ensure that future air bags do not pose an unreasonable risk of serious injury to occupants who are very near the air bag when it deploys. The new requirements will rollout in stages beginning September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2010.
In a statement released by GM, they support the NHTSA’s advanced air bag rule stating, "...(it) reflects a thorough, comprehensive and scientific approach that will significantly improve vehicle occupant safety. More importantly, GM welcomes the rule’s new testing and injury criteria that consider drivers and passengers of all sizes."
In a separate release, GM announced the findings of another NHTSA study that recently tested nine vehicles to determine if the side impact air bags designed to enhance adult protection were a threat to children. NHTSA results released in the fall of 1999 showed comprehensively that of nine vehicles the safety agency tested, only one, the GM minivan, was rated as having side impact air bags that don’t pose a threat of serious injury to children.
"The industry’s experience with frontal air bags provides us with an important background of out-of-position children and the potential risk for injury," states Jim Khoury, GM Safety Restraint Engineer. "Before introducing side impact air bags into our minivans, we went to great lengths to design the air bags for many sizes and positions of front seat occupants. The engineering challenge of side impact air bags is to provide additional protection in a side impact crash for adults while minimizing the potential risk of injury to the most vulnerable occupants - children - from the air bag deployment itself."
Some air bag related standards available through Global include:
GMW 3109GS-5-1-R-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components - Part 1: Frontal Air Bag Modules
Requirements
GMW 3115GS-5-2-R-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components - Part 2: Side Impact Air Bag
Modules Requirements
GMW 3121GS-5-3-R-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components - Part 3: Roof Rail Air Bag
Modules Requirements - Draft
GMW 3112GS-5-1-V-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components - Part 1: Verification of
Requirements for Frontal Air Bag Modules
GMW 3124GS-5-4-V-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components - Part 4: Verification of Inflator
Subcomponent for Frontal/Side/Roof Rail Air
Bag Modules
GMW 3130GS-5-6-V-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components - Part 6: Verification of Initiator
Subcomponent for Frontal/Side/Roof Rail
Air Bag Modules
GMW 3133GS-5-7-V-1
General Specification for Air Bag Module
Components G - Part 7: Verification of
Cover/Door Subcomponent for Frontal/Side/
Roof Rail Air Bag Modules
ISO 10982
Road Vehicles - Test Procedures for Evaluating
Out-of-Position Vehicle Occupant
Interactions with Deploying Air Bags
ISO TR 14645
Road Vehicles - Test Procedures for Evaluating
Child Restraint System Interactions
with Deploying Air Bags
INTERNATIONAL® TMS 7131
Driver Air Bag (DAB)
SAE J2431
The Effects of Front-Mounted Accessories
on Air Bag Sensors and Crashworthiness
SAE SP 1333
Air Bag Technologies (Softbound)