The General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government's chief procurement

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1 Survivor: 'I'll Never Buy Another Car Without an Air Bag' Bill Would tend Standar s To Multipur ose Ve icles I The General Services Administration (GSA), the federal government's chief procurement agency, has ordered 1,500 Ford Tempos equipped with driver side air bags. Terence C. Golden, GSA administrator, said the million contract will provide air bags at a cost of about $668 per car. The total purchase price of each automobile is $7,835. The cars will be delivered about June 30. In 1984, GSA purchased 5,000 air bag equipped Tempos as part of a demonstration program. So far, 630 cars in the original fleet have been involved in crashes, of them severe enough to cause the air bags to deploy. "Without exception, the air bags performed as designed," GSA says. "There have been no inadvertent deployments and no incidents where the air bag did not deploy when it should have." Agency officials believe the air bags saved the lives or prevented serious injuries among several drivers. GSA's interagency fleet comprises some 93,000 vehicles, which are assigned to government agencies. GSA requires all drivers and passengers using government vehicles to ride belted.

2 Survivor: 'I'll Never Buy Another Car Without an Air Bag' Senate Bill Would Extend Standards

3 Belt Laws Saving Lives NTS Defends Its Conclusions In Lap elt Study DRINKING AGE LAWS Three more governors have signed laws setting 21 as the minimum age for the purchase of alcoholic beverages. Effective immediately in Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota, people must be 21 in order to purchase alcohol. Both the Idaho statute and the Montana law contain grandfather clauses so that persons under age 21 who were legally able to drink at the time the laws were signed may continue to do so. The South Dakota law does not have a grandfather clause. The Colorado legislature is considering a measure to raise the alcohol purchase age to 21. Ohio and Wyoming are the only other states without a 21 drinking age law.

4 NHTSA and EPA Are 'Missing the Boat' On Gray Market Cars Entering the U.S.

5 GAO Reports NHTSA's Testing Activities Could Be Improved TRIPLE A SUPPORTS INSTITUTE PETITION The American Automobile Association (AAA) is asking the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to reconsider the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's petition to require automatic on board recording devices for motor carriers. In supporting the petition, AM cited a study prepared for the AM Foundation for Traffic Safety, pointing to fatigue as the probable cause of 41 percent of the 221 heavy truck accidents studied. Although the scope of the study was limited, "the study results nevertheless demonstrate that many drivers are pushing beyond the limits of human endurance, endangering themselves and other highway users," says John Arden, the managing director of AM's government affairs office in his letter to Kenneth L. Pierson, director of the FWHA'S Office of Motor Carrier Standards. Earlier this year, Pierson rejected a petition filed by the Institute requesting a ruling to require on board recording devices for heavy trucks. The "black box" recorders automatically track vehicle speed, mileage, and time spent on the road, making it difficult to falsify driving records.

6 NTSB Defends Its Conclusions in Lap Belt Study Lap Belt: 'Better Than No Protection' LOGBOOK VIOLATIONS The California Highway Patrol (CHP) conducted a statewide blitz last August to check for trucker logbook violations and found 14 percent in violation of regulations. CHP truck safety enforcement officers ran the statewide check of driver logbooks blitz on Aug. 29, Susan Cowan Scott, the CHP representative who recently released the study results, said the duration of the study was kept to two hours - between 9 and a.m. - because after that time, word of the enforcement blitz would have 'been broadcast far and wide via citizens band radio. Throughout the state, 5,781 driver logs were checked during roadside inspections. Atotal of 804 drivers - 14 percent - were cited for various logbook violations. Of those cited, 194 drivers were demonstrably over the federal 10-hour driving limit and were ordered to rest for eight hours before they could go back out on the road.

7 GAO Reports on NHTSA's Testing Activities

8 On The Inside