NHTSA to Issue Side Air Bag Rule

Federal officials next month are set to unveil a requirement that automakers install side air bags by the early part of the next decade, the Detroit News reported.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation has been cleared by the Office of Management and Budget and is scheduled to be released by Sept. 28, the paper reported.

Side-impact crashes are the second most common fatal type after frontal crashes, killing 9,200 people in 2005, and the percentage of fatalities caused by side-impact crashes is on the rise, from 31% in 1980-81 to 49% in 2004-05, the News said.

In 2003, automakers voluntarily agreed to install side air bags in all vehicles by Sept. 1, 2009, and in 50 percent of vehicles by Sept. 1, 2007, the paper reported.