Safety Panel Urges Tougher Seat Belt Laws

WASHINGTON — Federal traffic safety officials Tuesday urged state governments to toughen their seat belt laws, beef up enforcement and require children under 13 years old to sit in the back seats of cars.

The nonbinding recommendations by the National Transportation Safety Board were among about two dozen points unanimously adopted by the agency in an effort to cut traffic fatalities by increasing Americans’ use of seat belts and reassessing the way air bags are deployed in car crashes.

The new recommendations come amid a debate over the safety of air bags, credited with saving nearly 2,000 lives but also blamed for the deaths of 40 children and 27 small adults in relatively low-impact crashes since 1990.

“The controversy over air bags would not exist today if 20 years ago our political leaders had had the guts to require people to buckle up,” said NTSB Chairman Jim Hall.

Hall said it is essential that children be given prime consideration in the formulation of safety policy.

In recommending that state governments enact laws requiring children 12 years old and younger to ride in the rear seats of automobiles that have them, several NTSB officials noted that most European countries have similar requirements.

They said children are three times less likely to die in car crashes when riding in the back seat.

In addition to the inherent dangers of riding in the front passenger seat of a car, the relatively recent discovery that children and small adults have been killed by the force of air bag deployments has prompted safety officials, advocates and the auto industry to reassess their design.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has enforcement powers and sets safety standards, is reviewing proposals to permit the optional deactivation of air bags by those who believe they might pose a hazard.

In addition, there are efforts underway to modify air bags so that they deploy with less force and are triggered by higher impacts than the current eight to 12 miles an hour.

“The one-size-fits-all approach is obsolete and was from the beginning,” said Hall.

The Air Bag Safety Campaign applauded the recommendations, noting that motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 killer of children and adults up to age 41.

“Correct use of safety belts and child safety seats is the best way to minimize the risk air bags may pose in a crash,” the consumer safety group said in a statement.

The NTSB’s recommendations include urging states to require drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts.

Only 10 states have laws under which motorists may be cited simply for not wearing seat belts.

Another 39 states have so-called secondary laws where citations for failure to wear seat belts could be issued if the driver is stopped for another violation.

The board also recommended that state and local police conduct “highly visible” programs to enforce seat belt laws.

One of several recommendations the agency made to improve the gathering of data on seat belt use, air bag deployment and crash statistics is that automakers install crash recorders in at least some cars that would measure collision forces.