Interpretation ID: nht88-4.3

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: NOVEMBER 7, 1988

FROM: CLARENCE M. DITLOW III -- CENTER FOR AUTO SAFETY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

TO: ERIKA Z. JONES -- CHIEF COUNSEL-NHTSA

TITLE: NONE

ATTACHMT: DECEMBER 12, 1988 LETTER FROM JONES TO DITLOW

TEXT: Your November 1 letter refusing to question General Motors' failure to provide retrofit rear shoulder belts for 9 million cars reflects such callous disregard for human life and ignorance of the facts as to defy belief that you are doing little more than covering up for a GM policy that will kill rear seat passengers.

First, you totally ignore the fact that GM is actively discouraging consumers from installing shoulder belts in 9 million cars by telling them the shoulder belt offers no added safety protection over the lap belt alone. What possible scientific basis is there for such a statement, particularly when GM's chief seatbelt effectiveness expert, Leonard Evans, concludes that shoulder/lap belts are more than twice as effective as lap belts alone in preventing fatalities. If rear lap belts are as effective as shoulder/lap belts, then why is NHTSA proposing to require shoulder belts in rear seats?

Second, you condone GM's actions to discourage installation of rear shoulder belts by trivalizing 9 million cars as "a few of its past models." I assure you that the millions of people who ride with their lives at greater risk in the rear seats of these cars deserve far more respect than you show them.

Third, NHTSA's voluntary program to make retrofit shoulder belts available is in shambles. Not a day goes by without CAS receiving complaints from consumers about dealers refusing to install shoulder belts in rear seats. GM encourages this withholding of lifesaving shoulder belts by alleging there is research that adding shoulder belts doesn't save lives. Telling people that shoulder belts do not save lives clearly frustrates NHTSA's policy of encouraging retrofits.

Fourth, the only substantive statement in your response was that NHTSA does not have the statutory authority to mandate the availability of retrofit shoulder belts. This is nothing more than a strawman argument as my September 9 letter never said NHTSA has the statutory authority to mandate retrofit kits. But in view of the greater effectiveness of shoulder belts and the increased use of rear lap belts which cause death in some accidents, the question arises as to why NHTSA doesn't ask Congress for su ch authority?

Your substantive response to the questions raised in these letters is welcomed.