RE: Aftermarket Steering Wheel?

["Dupree, Jim" <dupree@alldata.com>]

It is legal for the owner to disconnect the airbag but Federal law prohibits
any manufacturer,  distributor, dealer, or repair shop from disconnecting
the air bag systems. A switch can be installed by any manufacturer,
distributor, dealer, or repair shop to deactivate an airbag with permission
from NHTSA, this is to accommodate those with children that will have to
ride in seat with and airbag or those with special physical or medical
needs. NHTSA requires an application be filled out and then a permission
letter will be sent, if approved, and then you just have to find some that
will install the switch. There were a lot of shops a dealers that would not
do this for fear of our legal system. NTHSA has a web site
(http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/) with a search engine to help find someone that
will do this installation. Of course there are some other details and
regulations involved but the key for us is that "you own the car you may
disconnect it". 
My own thought is that even though it is disconnected it is still an
explosive device. If I don't trust it to work properly I'm sure as hell not
going to keep it in my car! (Let's see where can I store this unstable bomb?
How about here 15 inches from my face!) So when I am faced with the choice I
will most likely spend the money to upgrade it to a fully functional status.
Jim Dupree


		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Daniel Hussey [mailto:dan_hussey@email.msn.com]
		Sent:	Thursday, October 28, 1999 5:08 PM
		To:	DGraber460@aol.com
		Cc:	quattro@audifans.com
		Subject:	Re: Aftermarket Steering Wheel?



		>Does anyone know the status of the Federal law prohibiting
tampering with a
		>passive restraint (namely an air bag). For some time the
government was so
		>determined to force them upon us they made it a federal
crime to disconnect
		>them.
		>In light of recent statistics that elderly and infants have
been injured by
		>the devices, I think they have made certain exceptions to
the law.
		>Anyone knowledgeable in this field?


		Nope, not lay anymore.  It may have been at one time, but
then again, so is
		removing those silly tags from a matress!  I don't think
anyone would
		enforce something like that and a LOT of people remove them!

		Today... just about all new cars are sold with switches or
easy disconnect
		procedures for turning off the airbag to do exactly what you
said... prevent
		incidents with infants and children.  See most airbags are
made to deploy
		with a force strong enough to stop a 200lb male, but that
same force is
		strong enough to kill a child!  They have something called
"smart airbags"
		now where it sences the weight of the occupant and will
deploy at an
		appropriate speed.  But, the cost of this technology has
kept them from
		widepread use.  They also need them to deploy at a speed
relative to the
		speed of the imact.  If it is an under 30 mph impact, it
doesn't need to
		deploy as fast.  A lot of people every year are injured by
airbags, but very
		few are serious.  And, they do save lives.  My dad totalled
a Ford Explorer
		with my sister in it (rolled it twice and landed in a cement
drainage
		ditch).  Was not a straight panel on the car and both
escaped without any
		injury with the help of airbags.  The Explorer is also a
very strong car
		wich brings me to my other point.... and it was a Volvo ad
slogan for a
		while... "An airbag is only as safe as the car you put it
in".  Volvo was
		saying that back in the early 90's when everyone was just
slapping airbags
		in a Geo Metro.  Just because it has an airbag doesn't make
it a safe car,
		but it is a feature that can help.

		Sorry for the long banter.  I am keeping the airbag in my
'89 200TQ, but I
		am a little concerned and interested to find out how these
things hold up
		over time!  And, how many people are honestly going to spend
$800 on a new
		airbag wheel from the dealer on a car that is 12-15 years
old.  I think we
		will be seing a lot more airbag injuries as these cars get
older.  I think
		when my car gets to the age where it is a realistic concern
I will simply
		disconnect mine.

		Later,
		Dan