49 U.S.C. § 30127 — Automatic occupant crash protection and seat belt use

(a) Definitions. In this section: (1) "bus" means a motor vehicle with an engine, other than a trailer, built to carry more than 10 people. (2) "multipurpose passenger vehicle" means a motor vehicle with an engine, other than a trailer, built to carry no more than 10 people, made on a truck frame or with special features for occasional off-road use. (3) "passenger car" means a motor vehicle with an engine, other than a multipurpose passenger vehicle, motorcycle, or trailer, built to carry no more than 10 people. (4) "truck" means a motor vehicle with an engine, other than a trailer, built mainly to carry cargo or special equipment. (b) Inflatable restraint requirements. (1) By September 1, 1993, the Secretary of Transportation had to amend Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 (issued under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966). The amendment requires that both front outer seats in certain vehicles have an inflatable restraint — an airbag — plus lap-and-shoulder belts, meeting Standard 208's protection rules, phased in as follows: (A) 95 percent of each manufacturer's passenger cars made after August 31, 1996 and before September 1, 1997. (B) 80 percent of each manufacturer's buses, multipurpose vehicles, and trucks weighing 8,500 pounds or less (gross vehicle weight) with an unloaded weight of 5,500 pounds or less — excluding walk-in vans and vehicles sold only to the Postal Service — made after August 31, 1997 and before September 1, 1998. (C) 100 percent of passenger cars made after August 31, 1997. (D) 100 percent of the vehicles described in (B) made after August 31, 1998. (2) After August 31, 1998, manufacturers cannot use compliance credits earned before that date to meet the 100-percent requirement in (1)(D). (c) Owner manual requirements. When Standard 208 is amended, owner's manuals for cars, buses, multipurpose vehicles, and trucks equipped with an inflatable restraint must clearly state: (1) the front outer seats have an inflatable restraint, called an "airbag," plus a lap-and-shoulder belt; (2) the airbag is a supplement, not a substitute, for the belts; (3) the belts must still be worn correctly to protect against frontal crashes and other kinds of crashes; and (4) occupants should always wear their lap-and-shoulder belts, or other available safety belts, whether or not the vehicle has an airbag. (d) Seat belt use laws. Congress finds it is in the public interest for every state to pass and enforce mandatory seat belt laws, and for the federal government to adopt and enforce its own mandatory seat belt regulations. (e) Temporary exemptions. (1) A manufacturer may apply, and the Secretary may temporarily exempt its vehicles from the requirements in subsections (b) and (c), on terms the Secretary sets. An exemption can be renewed. (2) The Secretary may grant this only if a disruption in supplying an inflatable-restraint component, or in using and installing it, caused by an unavoidable event outside the manufacturer's control, will stop the manufacturer from reaching its expected production of vehicles with those restraints. (3) Only the affected manufacturer may apply. The Secretary must specify, in the Standard 208 amendment, what the application must include; the manufacturer must list the affected models, lines, and types, and the Secretary may combine similar applications from different manufacturers. (4) An exemption or renewal requires the manufacturer to commit to recalling the exempted vehicles later to install the missing airbags, on a timeline the manufacturer proposes and the Secretary approves, once the parts become available in enough quantity. (5) The Secretary must publish in the Federal Register every application and every decision to grant or deny an exemption, along with the reasons. (6) Exempted vehicles need a label that can only be removed after the recall and installation happen. The dealer and the vehicle's first retail buyer must get written notice of the exemption, in a way and with the content the Secretary decides is appropriate. (f) Application. (1) This section revises, but does not replace, Standard 208 as it stood on December 18, 1991, including the March 26, 1991 amendment, extending automatic crash-protection requirements — with incentives for better designs — to trucks, buses, and multipurpose vehicles. It should not be read as (A) changing any other law the Secretary of Transportation enforces for these vehicle types, or (B) setting a precedent for developing or prescribing future vehicle safety standards. (2) Nothing in this section, or in the Standard 208 amendments made under it, should be read as showing that Congress meant to affect a manufacturer's liability under other law for vehicles with or without inflatable restraints. (g) Report. (1) From October 1, 1992 through October 1, 2000, the Secretary had to report each year on how effective occupant restraint systems are — measured as a percentage reduction in deaths or injuries for restrained versus unrestrained occupants — for (A) inflatable restraints combined with lap-and-shoulder belts, (B) inflatable restraints alone, and (C) lap-and-shoulder belts alone. (2) Working with the Secretaries of Labor and Defense, the Secretary also had to provide information and analysis on lap-and-shoulder belt use, nationally and in each state, by (A) military personnel, (B) government, state, and local law enforcement officers, (C) other government and state employees, and (D) the public. (h) Airbags for government cars. Working with the Administrator of General Services and other federal agency heads, the Secretary must run a program — consistent with procurement law and available funding — requiring passenger cars bought for government use: (1) after September 30, 1994, to have driver-side inflatable restraints, to the maximum extent practical; and (2) after September 30, 1996, to have inflatable restraints for both front outer seats, to the maximum extent practical.