Retailer Service Information Regarding Air Bag on-Off Switches

In November 1997, the federal highway safety agency known as NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) announced a new safety regulation that permits retrofit air bag on-off switches for some owners and lessees. The new rule took effect on December 18, 1997 and permits installation of air bag on-off switches beginning January 19, 1998. In response to the new regulation, and the publicity about it, customers may come in and ask you to install air bag on-off switches in their vehicles. GM/Saturn's point of view on this is spelled out.

The new regulation is both narrow and permissive. It is narrow because only some customers can qualify for an air bag on-off switch. It is permissive because it says Retailers may decide to install a retrofit air bag on-off switch for customers who qualify. But the Retailer is also free to refuse this work. Only the Retailer can decide how to respond to these customer requests. We hope the information in this package will help you make these decisions. You may, in addition, want to discuss this matter with your attorney.

GM/Saturn has designed air bag on-off switches Retailers can use if they decide to install an air bag on-off switch under the new regulation. These GM/Saturn air bag on-off switches are manually operated, using the vehicle's ignition key. When properly installed, a GM/Saturn air bag on-off switch is designed to allow the vehicle's operator to manually turn the air bag off and on. There is a separate air bag on-off switch assembly for each of the two front air bags. (The NHTSA regulation does not permit a single air bag on-off switch that would turn off both driver and passenger air bags.) Included with each GM/Saturn air bag on-off switch is 1) a status indicator with a warning light to let occupants know when a bag is turned off, and 2) an owner's manual insert.

Obviously, a manual air bag on-off switch can be misused: the air bag on-off switch can be turned off when it should be on, or it can be on when it should be turned off. While this presents a risk, the new NHTSA regulation does permit installation of these air bag on-off switches under some circumstances.