Automobile Safety

Motorists and passengers in California, Oregon and Washington state have the highest seat-belt use in the country, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oregon ? where nearly 94% of people said they always wore a seat belt ? ranked No. 1, according to a CDC telephone survey. California was close behind in self-reported seat belt use at 93.2%, followed by Washington state at 92%. All three states have strict enforcement of safety belt laws ?

The Firestone tire recall that began a year ago today probably will be seen by future generations as a turning point in American automobile safety regulation.

The number of deadly vehicle rollover crashes could be dramatically reduced by an invention that has won popularity in Europe but is not widely known in the United States, a study to be released today indicates. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety studied U.S. accident data and found that vehicles with electronic stability control as standard equipment were only about half as likely to be involved in fatal single-vehicle crashes as identical models without the technology.

ROGER L. MCCARTHY WAS STUCK IN FRIDAY-afternoon traffic on July 17, 1981, when he heard the first radio reports of a catastrophe at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency. In the middle of the hotel's afternoon tea dance, about 1,500 people had been listening to an orchestra play "Satin Doll" when a walkway that spanned the lobby collapsed onto another walkway; both crashed to the lobby floor. As his Buick Centurion inched along U.S. 101 through Silicon Valley, bulletins updated the story.

Moving to prevent more deaths and quell a consumer outcry, federal safety regulators on Friday gave the nation's auto makers approval to install less-powerful air bags in new cars and trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a rule that allows the car companies to reduce the force of a deploying air bag by 20% to 35% late in the 1997 model year. Air bags now inflate at up to 200 mph, in just 30-50 milliseconds.

Firestone admitted Tuesday for the first time that it had produced defective tires, and that their design, along with possible quality control problems at one of its plants, appear to be factors in the catastrophic tread failures. "We made some bad tires, and we take full responsibility for them," John Lampe, executive vice president of Bridgestone/Firestone Inc., told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing chaired by John McCain (R-Ariz).

Babies born Feb. 14 will receive child safety seats as their first Valentine, thanks to a police effort to enforce safety seat laws. To kick off National Child Safety Seat Week, the Peace Officers Assn. will hand out 100 car seats to new parents throughout Los Angeles County. The association, which includes police, sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers, will also coordinate a crackdown on drivers who break the law.

Over the years, the entertainment industry has been accused of glamorizing excessive smoking, drinking, violence and sex. Fasten your seat belt, Hollywood: Here comes the latest campaign to clean up your act. A study from St. Louis University's School of Public Health suggests that the film industry is promoting another bad habit: driving without a seat belt.

Addressing growing safety concerns about hot-selling sport-utility vehicles, the government today will announce a requirement for dramatic warnings about the danger of rollovers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will direct auto makers to post a graphic new label--showing a lurching SUV with two wheels high in the air--on the front of the sun visor or the driver's side window of new models.

Seeking to prevent the deaths of children, General Motors Corp. said it will offer an escape handle inside car trunks starting next year. Ford Motor Co. officials also said Wednesday they were working on a similar mechanism to offer a way out for children trapped in the extreme heat of automobile trunks in the summer months. GM and Ford combined control more than half the car market, and GM said it would share its trunk handle with other auto makers.