AUTOMATIC CRASH PROTECTION AND SAFETY BELT USE.

SEC. 2508. AUTOMATIC CRASH PROTECTION AND SAFETY BELT USE. (a) Amendment of Standard.— (1) Specifications.— Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule, the Secretary shall by September 1, 1993, promulgate, in accordance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (to the extent such Act is not in conflict with the provisions of this section), an amendment to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 issued under such Act to provide that the automatic occupant crash protection system for the front outboard designated seating positions of each— (A) new truck, bus, and multipurpose passenger vehicle (other than walk-in van-type trucks and vehicles designed to be exclusively sold to the United States Postal Service) 105 STAT. 2085with a gross vehicle weight rating of 8,500 pounds or less and an unloaded vehicle weight of 5,500 pounds or less, and (B) new passenger car, manufactured on or after the dates specified in the applicable schedule established by subsection (b), shall be an inflatable restraint complying with the occupant protection requirements under section 4.1.2.1 of such Standard. This section supplements and revises, but does not replace, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208, including the amendment to such Standard 208 of March 26, 1991 (56 F.R. 12472), extending the requirements for automatic crash protection, together with incentives for more innovative automatic crash protection, to trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles. (2) Requirement.— The amendment to such Standard 208 shall also require, to be effective as soon as possible after the promulgation of such amendment, that the owner manuals for passenger cars and trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles equipped with an inflatable restraint include a statement in an easily understandable format— (A) that the vehicle is equipped with an inflatable restraint referred to as an “airbag” and a lap and shoulder belt in either or both the front outboard seating positions; (B) that the airbag is a supplemental restraint; (C) that it does not substitute for lap and shoulder belts which must also be correctly used by an occupant in such seating position to provide restraint or protection not only from frontal crashes but from other types of crashes or accidents; and (D) that all occupants, including the driver, should always wear their lap and shoulder belts, where available, or other safety belts, whether or not there is an inflatable restraint. (3) Finding.— The Congress finds that it is in the public interest for all States to adopt and enforce mandatory seat belt use laws and for the Federal Government to adopt and enforce mandatory seat belt use rules. (b) Schedule.— The amendment promulgated under subsection (a) shall establish the following schedule: (1) New passenger cars.— The amendment shall take effect for 95 percent of each manufacturer’s annual production of passenger cars manufactured on and after September 1, 1996, and before September 1, 1997, and for 100 percent of each manufacturer’s production of passenger cars manufactured on and after September 1, 1997. Subject to the provisions of subsection (c), the percentage prescribed for passenger cars manufactured on and after September 1, 1997, shall be met entirely by inflatable restraints (accompanied by lap and shoulder belts) for both front outboard seating positions. (2) New trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles.— The amendment shall take effect for 80 percent of each manufacturer’s annual production of trucks, buses, and multi-purpose passenger vehicles described in subsection (a)(1)(A) and manufactured on and after September 1, 1997, and before September 1, 1998, and for 100 percent of each manufacturer’s production of such trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles manufactured on and after September 1, 1998. Subject to the provisions of subsection (c), the percentage prescribed for such trucks, buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles manu-105 STAT. 2086factured on and after September 1, 1998, shall be met entirely by inflatable restraints (accompanied by lap and shoulder belts) for both front outboard seating positions. The incentives or credits available under Standard 208 (as amended by this section) prior to September 1, 1998, shall not be available to the manufacturers to comply with the 100 percent requirement of this paragraph on and after such date. (c) Temporary Exemption From Requirements.— Upon application by a manufacturer, in such manner and containing such information as the Secretary shall prescribe in the amendment under this section to such Standard 208, the Secretary may at any time, under such terms and conditions and to such extent as the Secretary deems appropriate, temporarily exempt or renew the exemption of a motor vehicle from the requirements of subsection (a) or (b), or both, if the Secretary finds that there has been a disruption in the supply of any inflatable restraint component, or a disruption in the use and installation by the manufacturer of such component due to unavoidable events not under the control of the manufacturer, that will prevent a manufacturer from meeting its anticipated production volume of vehicles with such restraints. Each application for such exemption must be filed by the manufacturer affected, and must specify the models, lines, and types of vehicles actually affected, although the Secretary may consolidate applications of a similar nature of 1 or more manufacturers. Any exemption or renewal shall be conditioned upon the manufacturers commitment to recall the exempted vehicles for installation of omitted inflatable restraints within a reasonable time proposed by the manufacturer and approved by the Secretary after such components become available in sufficient quantities to satisfy both anticipated production and recall volume requirements. Notice of each application shall be published in the Federal Register and notice of each decision to grant or deny a temporary exemption, and the reasons for granting or denying it, shall be published in the Federal Register. The Secretary shall require labeling for each exempted motor vehicle which can only be removed after recall and installation of the required inflatable restraint. If a vehicle is delivered without an inflatable restraint, the Secretary shall require that written notification of the exemption be delivered to the dealer and first purchasers for purposes other than resale of such exempted motor vehicle in such a manner, and containing such information, as the Secretary deems appropriate. (d) Construction.— Nothing in this section shall be construed by the Secretary or any other person, including any court, as altering or affecting any other provision of law administered by the Secretary and applicable to such passenger cars or trucks, buses, or multipurpose passenger vehicles or as establishing any precedent regarding the development and promulgation of any Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard. Nothing in this section or in the amendments made under this section to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 shall be construed by any person or court as indicating an intention by Congress to affect, change, or modify in any way the liability, if any, of a motor vehicle manufacturer under applicable law relative to vehicles with or without inflatable restraints. (e) Report.— The Secretary shall biannually report, beginning October 1, 1992 and continuing to October 1, 2000, on the actual effectiveness of an occupant restraint system defined as the percentage reduction in fatalities or injuries of restrained occupants as 105 STAT. 2087compared to unrestrained occupants for the combination of inflated restraints and lap and shoulder belts, for inflated restraints alone, and for lap and shoulder belts alone. The Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of Defense, shall also provide data and analysis on lap and shoulder belt use, nationally and in each State, by Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers, by military personnel, by Federal and State employees other than law enforcement officers, and by the public. (f) Airbags for Cars Acquired for Federal Use.— The Secretary, in cooperation with the Administrator of General Services and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies and consistent with applicable provisions of Federal procurement law and available appropriations, shall establish a program requiring that all passenger cars acquired after September 30, 1994, for use by the Federal Government be equipped, to the maximum extent practicable, with driver-side inflatable restraints and that all passenger cars acquired after September 30, 1996, for use by the Federal Government be equipped, to the maximum extent practicable, with inflatable restraints for both the driver and front seat outboard seating positions.