Safety Sells: Market Forces and Regulation
in the Development of Airbags
by Martin Albaum

Sections are in PDF format and require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader

Contents

Title Page

Contents

Foreword

Chapter 1: Automobile Safety Becomes a Federal Affair

• The Automobile Redefines America
• Automobile and Highway Safety
• The Automobile Industry Reacts to New Safety Ideas
• Political Rumblings
• The Broader Environment and Climate of Opinion
• Federal Auto Safety Standards Are Mandated
• The Origins of Airbags
• Summary

• The Original Occupant Crash Protection Standard: Seat Belts
• The Airbag Issue Emerges
• The First Steps Toward Standards Involving Airbags
• The First Proposed Standard for Passive Restraints
• Reactions to the Proposed Rule
• The Rule is Modified
• Summary

• Another “Final” Occupant Restraint Rule
• A Presidential Intervention and Another Delay
• Airbag Research and Testing: 1970-1972
• A Major Court Ruling
• The Seat Belt Alternative
• Redefining Passive Restraint Standards and Other Delays
• Reaction to the Interlock
• James Gregory and the Passive Restraint Debate
• 1975: Another Year of Debate and Delay
• Coleman Takes Over
• Summary

• Reopening the Passive Restraint Standard
• A “Final” Passive Restraint Standard
• Restraint Developments Following Adams’ Decision
• The Battle of the Passives
• Congressional Interventions
• Summary

• Regulatory Relief for Auto Manufacturers
• Keeping Airbags Alive After Rescission
• The Courts Intervene
• New Leaders at DOT and Another Review
• DOT Explores New Possibilities
• Mrs. Dole’s Decision
• Manipulating the “Trapdoor”
• The Spread of Driver-Side Airbags
• Consumer Reaction and Accident Experience
• Summary

• The Market Overtakes the Automatic Protection Rule
• More Regulations: A Performance Standard Replaced by a Technological Standard
• The Growth of Seat Belt Use
• Evaluating Driver Airbags
• Injuries and Deaths From Airbags
• Attitudes Toward Airbags
• The Effectiveness of Passenger Airbags
• The Early Regulatory Response to Airbag Injuries
• Seat Belt Use As a Solution to Airbag Injuries
• Defining Advanced Airbags
• Trends in Airbag Fatalities and Injuries
• Summary

• How Successful Have Airbag Standards Been?
• Would Economic Forces Have Been More Efficient Than Regulation in Making
• Airbags Available?
• How Can the Motor Vehicle/Highway Safety Regulatory Process be Made More Effective?
•      -Scope
•      -Speed
• Testing Assumptions
• Regulatory Criteria
•      -The Preference for Performance Standards
•      -Comparing Costs and Benefits
•      -Public Acceptability
•      -Should Some People Be Given More Crash Protection than Others?
• The Superiority of Automatic Protection
• Assumptions About Behavior
• The Politics of Airbag Regulation
•      -Presidential Intervention
•      -The Political Course of Airbag Regulation

Appendix

(Sections are in PDF format and require the free Adobe Acrobat Reader)