Side Airbags Soon to Be Standard

Next month, the federal government will unveil a major new regulation mandating side-impact airbags on all cars. The regulation would not only make side airbags standard, but early next decade it would also change the requirement of how much area the airbags need to cover, and it would increase crash testing. The reason for the change is collisions with larger vehicles, like SUVs and trucks, that often negate side airbags that deploy too low.

Automakers are already working to a self-imposed deadline of having all cars equipped with side airbags by 2009. The government says that with side airbags standard, fatalities could be reduced by 1,000 people a year. In 2005, 9,200 people were killed in side-impact crashes.

Side Air Bag Rule In Works (The Detroit News)