Airbags Could Cause Hearing Loss

This week, new research will be released that shows 17% of people who are in a car when airbags deploy will suffer permanent hearing loss. The results come from an independent consultant presenting a wide range of other hearing dangers at the annual meeting of the National Hearing Conservation Association.

Other everyday noises that could cause damage range from a hammer hitting a nail to the sound of a baby’s rattle, but the airbag findings could have a major impact on how automakers design the safety equipment. 

[Airbag Deployment Could Cause Permanent Hearing Loss, Asbury Park Press]

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Government to Push For Tougher Safety Ratings

We interrupt our regularly scheduled auto show coverage to bring you this breaking news: The Bush administration — two years after it first received the suggestion — is now pushing for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to update its 27-year-old crash test program. NHTSA routinely gives out its top star rating to too many new models. How many? Of 2006 vehicles, 87% got four- or five-star ratings, with five stars being the highest. That’s one reason why Cars.com refers to the much tougher tests from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The government’s proposal would make all crash tests harder to top and would add a category for upper-leg injuries. Last March, NHTSA said the public doesn’t even notice crash-test scores, but in most new-car research safety features are a top concern.

The IIHS scores are so important to buyers that carmakers will actually redesign safety features in a new car if it receives a poor score, in hopes of getting the group to retest the car. It seems like NHTSA is looking to gain some of that stature with its new tests. 

[Feds Seek Tougher Car Safety Testing, The Detroit News]

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