RALPH HOAR
IN MEMORIAM

Raging Hoar Moans
Neither Kids Nor Sex Inherently Safe in the Back Seat

To calm the press and public fuss about children being hurt by overly aggressive airbags, NHTSA and the automakers joined forces to seduce parents into placing children in supposedly benign rear seats. It might be a good idea--but it's half-assed!

Back seats may have the reputation of being safe now, but this misconception is based largely on statistics that will shift as occupancy and exposure to rear seat hazards increase.

Here's the problem, by urging parents to move their kids into the rear seat, NHTSA and the automakers are moving kids away from a new source of potential injury in the front seat and exposing them to an old set of hazards in the rear seat.

Lap belts without shoulder belts and collapsing seat backs have killed and crippled hundreds of kids in rear seats. The lethal aspects of lap belts have been known for almost half a century. Crash dummies in the front seat of virtually every 30 mile per hour rear-end crash test careen into the rear seat. NHTSA and the automakers know this, and, they know how to fix it for pennies.

It's clear that the rush to throw kids into the back seat was driven by public relations. If the rush had been driven by concern for public health rather than public relations, it would have been accompanied by announcements from Detroit and Washington that seat backs will be stronger and every seating position will have a lap shoulder belt. Neither measure requires rocket science nor more than a fraction of the billions automakers are stashing away in cash reserves.

So if you're gonna have sex or put kids in the back seat, you'd best make sure there's adequate protection.

OPTSF383

6/19/98