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Air Bags: On or Off?Posted 3/17/1998By Curt Harler
If they haven't already been asked, shop owners could be asked by customers, friends or relatives to disconnect a functioning air bag, or to install an on/off switch. There are legitimate concerns about youngsters or small adults being injured in a low-speed crash when a bag deploys. One woman, noting that her pet poodle rides in the front seat, wanted the air bag disconnected to keep the dog from peril. "My wife is the only one who has asked me to do it and I told her 'no,'" says Edward Schaeffer of Northtown Auto Clinic, North Kansas City, Mo. "I still believe they save more lives than they hurt." Schaeffer says he is concerned that, no matter how many forms are signed or stickers are applied to the vehicle, some "hot-shot" lawyer will get involved and look for someone with deep pockets. "My opinion is that air bags work properly if you use them properly, with a seat belt. But, don't expect miracles," says Lauren Fix, an automotive specialist/consultant from Buffalo, N.Y. Children, for example, should not be allowed to sit in the front seat. As the mother of two children, ages four and six, she maintains the safest place for children is in the center of the back seat. "It's inconvenient to put them there, but do it," she advises. Will Gober of Will's Auto Works, Prescott, Ariz., has been approached by several customers to disable air bags. One fellow had a decent reason: he had hit a deer, and the bag had gone off and burned his arms. Gober declined the job, however. "I told him to go back to his dealer. Let the dealer have the liability," he says. Cesar Pascual, president of Atlanta AutoCare, Decatur, Ga., has had some interest from customers. "But you could count the calls on one hand," he says. "We won't go near them." His advice to callers is like Gober's: go back to the dealer. Others, like Jim's Auto Repair, York, Pa., have had no calls for jobs, but eventually there may be requests. It is vital to know how to handle them. Actually, the customer has two options: disconnection of the air bag or installation of an on/off switch if one is not already included. It is not legal to remove the air bag. While he does perform deactivation, Doug Hansen, president of Airbag Service, Issaquah, Wash., recommends against it. His company has 21 locations across the country to work on airbags. "There is no way to supersede the OEMs' safety engineering," he says. In the case of deactivation, Airbag Service removes all components. So far, they have not done any on/off switch installations, even though they have had many customer requests. That is because the OEMs have not yet made on/off switch parts available.
Legal considerations Effective as of Jan. 19, vehicle dealers and repair businesses are exempt from the law prohibiting them from bypassing federally required safety equipment if NHTSA approval has been given. Shops are allowed to install retrofit manual on/off switches in vehicles "owned by or used by persons whose requests for switches have been approved by NHTSA." (The legal reference is 49 CFR Parts 571 and 595.) The approval from NHTSA, in effect, is an exemption from the law which prohibits tampering with any federal motor vehicle safety standard, notes Doug Greenhaus, director of environment, health and safety for the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), McLean, Va. When the job is done, the shop must return the appropriate forms to NHTSA to close the loop. In addition to the NHTSA forms, Hansen requires vehicle owners to sign a "hold harmless" letter. He admits it does "scare" him that airbag service is all they do, and he dreads the day a lawyer asks him to prove his torque wrench was calibrated correctly on a job. However, he feels confident that as long as they follow manufacturers' recommendations and use new parts in all jobs, they can remain clear of legal entanglements. NHTSA says airbags have saved almost 2,700 lives as of Nov. 1, 1997, primarily in moderate and high speed crashes. However, as of that same date, some 87 fatalities have been blamed on the bags, mainly in low-speed crashes and to children. They generally occur when people are too close to the air bag as it begins to inflate. NHTSA says the vast majority of the fatalities could have been avoided by preventive steps such as using seat belts, moving the front seats back as far as possible, and keeping children in the back seat. If NHTSA approves a modification request, the agency will send the vehicle owner a letter authorizing the installation of one or more on/off switches. Any shop can then install an on/off switch for the driver or passenger air bag, or both, as approved by NHTSA. However, a telltale light must also be installed to warn vehicle occupants when an air bag has been turned off. Before doing any job, be sure the VIN on the permit matches the VIN on the car and that the owner is the one with the NHTSA form (check title or registration). The shop must give the vehicle owner an insert for the owner's manual, describing the operation of the switch, listing the risk groups, and stating that the switch should be used to turn off an air bag for risk-group members only. In addition, the sheet must state the vehicle-specific safety consequences of using an on/off switch for people not in any risk group. Among the considerations is the effect of things like load limiters and energy managing features on seat belt performance. The shop must then fill in information about itself and its installation in a form in the letter and return the form to NHTSA. A last (or perhaps first) bit of paperwork should include getting the customer to sign a waiver of liability protecting the shop against legal action if there should be trouble as the result of the disconnected air bag. The vehicle owner should not balk at this requirement, since all owners have to agree to this condition before NHTSA will approve the project. Some shops require owners to apply warning labels to the vehicle as well.
Mechanical considerations No job can be done until the OEMs begin to release parts. General Motors (GM) and Ford say they will begin to provide the necessary parts in late February or March. Honda is looking at this summer, at the soonest, and probably will not release parts for all vehicles at once. Look for them to start with popular models like the Accord and move to others later. Some auto manufacturers, such as Volvo and Subaru, simply are not manufacturing air-bag on/off switches, maintaining that their cars are designed to be safe with the air bags operational. If the job involves replacing an exploded air bag, be certain to check and replace the following: the clock spring, sensors and wiring, steering wheel and column, and the electronic control unit. On some cars, like the Mercury Mystique, the steering column must be replaced when the air bag has deployed. Vehicles with on/off switches must be handled specially, even for non-air-bag repairs. NADA's Greenhaus notes that it is important that the position of the on/off switch be noted when the car comes in for repair and that the switch be in the same position when the car leaves, no matter what the nature of the job. "None of this is rocket science, but if you screw it up you are potentially liable," he notes. Likewise, NADA recommends that dealerships un-install the on/off switch in any vehicles that are taken in trade. "The person who had the job done met strict qualifications. The second owner is unlikely to meet those same standards," he says. Ford and GM already are releasing second-generation air bags in their higher-end cars. "In cheaper cars, lower-level vehicles, you get what you pay for," Fix says. She faults auto dealers for not training people properly about safety equipment, including seat belts and air bags. Noting that some people complain about facial cuts from an air bag deployment, she adds that a few scrapes are preferable to serious injury.
Smart systems Currently, three main options are under consideration. The first uses ultrasonic sensors that work like Sonar. They will determine exactly what the occupant's position is and can vary the deployment force of the bag should the person be leaning forward, for example. Infra-red also is under consideration. It would read the body heat of the occupant and change the force of air-bag deployment if the person were leaning to one side to change the radio or had tilted the seat back to rest. A third possibility is a system that works on the weight of the person. All three have bugs that are being worked out. The infra-red could be fooled by a person holding a hot pizza, for example. A person with a bag of groceries or a large stuffed animal could trick the ultrasonic sensor. McCaffrey suspects some combination of technologies may be the final answer. "There will be no grand announcement - this will be an evolutionary event," he says. Even with the promise of a solution that will eliminate the need to turn off air bags, cars equipped with older air-bag models will remain on the market for years. Fix is concerned that purchasers of used cars will not get the best safety advice, nor will they read the owner's manual.
The service Should just 1 percent of vehicle owners request on/off switches, that figures to 1,800 jobs, spread over 200 major cities. In a recent survey of 700 auto repair shops nationwide, AAA found only 16 percent said they would install on/off switches. An overwhelming 62 percent said they would not. The rest are still undecided. The Automotive Service Association (ASA) is advising its members not to install air-bag on/off switches or disconnect air bags. ASA is concerned that shop owners who install switches or disconnect air bags could be held liable in the future for injuries that could have been prevented if the air bag was in operation, according to Bob Redding, ASA's Washington, D.C., representative. It is also possible that shops performing such services may be subject to higher insurance premiums. "We will offer the service," Hansen says. "But the customer must take responsibility. The paperwork is a lot of hassle and that was done on purpose." He figures he can charge a few hundred dollars for the job and will make about $100 profit at most. For shops that are not air-bag specialists, the hassle is probably not worth the small profit minus the potential liability. Still, shop owners should be prepared to have the question of disconnecting air bags come up. For most shops the best approach, like Will Gober's, might be to send the customer to a dealer's facility. The full text of the NHTSA decision is available at their Web (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/airbags).
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Copyright (c) 1996-2008. Automotive Service Association. All rights reserved.
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