The report is a case history of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208: Occupant Crash Protection. This regulation, promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), specifies injury criteria and testing procedures which must be met by vehicle restraint systems. The focus of FMVSS 208 has been the concept of passive, or automatic, restraint--protective devices which require no action on the part of the vehicle occupant. Rulemaking and associated activity concerning passive protection begun in July 1969 and has continued to the present day. Mandatory passive restraint requirements are currently due to begin being phased in for passenger cars in September 1981. The standard has proven highly controversial, and much of the debate on the rule has centered around one particular type of passive restraint--the "air bag". The controversy has generated a large volume of material during the standard's 10-year history, including research and development studies, public hearings, Congressional review, dozens of evaluative reports, and two major court cases. The report describes the sequence of events associated with the development and implementation of FMVSS 208.
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