Truce and Progress

A prolonged dispute between the Government and private industry came to a truce of sorts last week, when the new National Traffic Safety Agency issued its first set of federal automobile-safety standards. Acting Under Secretary of Commerce (for transportation) Lowell K. Bridwell described the 95 pages of rules and specifications as "reasonable, practicable and appropriate." The auto manufacturers, responding with a discreet public silence and a private sense of relief, seemed to agree.

The new standards, which will affect 1968 model cars, were developed from a preliminary list of 23 safety requirements issued by the safety agency chief, Dr. William Haddon Jr., early last December. At that time, Haddon invited the automakers' written comments--and got some public blasts as well. The rules, said Henry Ford, were "unreasonable, arbitrary and technically not feasible," and might even force some plants to close down. For most of last month, Detroit's experts argued their case in Haddon's Washington office. Even the State Department, sensitive to foreign charges that the standards would merely be a sly barrier against imported cars, had its men at the sessions.

Warnings & Welcome Signs. The stiff preliminary standards served as a useful starting point and a warning to Detroit that the agency meant business. But, as the negotiations went along, the automakers saw welcome signs that the agency was in no mood to go all the way with the industry's most excessive critics, either. One of Haddon's top engineering consultants, William I. Stieglitz, formerly Republic Aviation's safety-design chief, had argued so bitterly against any compromise that he began to be excluded from the sessions. Stieglitz noisily resigned last week, declaring the standards "totally inadequate" and asserting--correctly--that "my opinion was not asked on any matters." In calm reply, Haddon said that if Stieglitz had had his way, "many, if not all, 1968 passenger cars could not, in our best judgment, have been manufactured."

In the end, three of the original 23 proposals were dropped. Two of them, involving tire-endurance, braking and weight-supporting standards, were suspended pending further research. The third--headrests to reduce whiplash neck injuries--was put off mainly because the industry cannot as yet produce enough to equip all cars. One major concession, provided for foreign manufacturers who do not follow the U.S. model-changeover routine, was to delay the effective date of the standards four months to Jan. 1, 1968.

Fifth-Percentile Women. Still, the revised standards will be incorporated in most U.S. 1968 models when they come out next fall. For the most part, changes from Haddon's original list (TIME, Dec. 9) were designed to meet engineering or economic practicalities. Under one preliminary requirement, for example, front-seat occupants were to have had across-the-chest shoulder harnesses along with the lap belts that all forward-facing passengers must have. Now convertibles will not have to have harnesses, since they lack the high doorposts necessary for attachment.

As a concession to Ford, which has already spent $200 million tooling for 1968 models with turn signals 17 in. off the ground, such lights can now be set at a minimum 15 in. in height, rather than 20 in. as before. Another change involved a requirement that as a minimum, dash-panel knobs be "within operational reach of the fifth-percentile female adult driver" wearing a seat belt. Detroit was flabbergasted. Chrysler, for one, said that it had scoured Public Health Service material for the lady's vital statistics, but found that no one could come up with the necessary "arm length and joint hinge" data. Somewhat at a loss himself, Haddon settled for a rule saying simply that a belted driver ought to be able to reach the controls, whatever his or her percentile.

One thing buyers of 1968 models will have to reach for is a higher price tag. Estimates are that the changes will raise car prices by $60 to $100. Anti-pollution devices, which become mandatory for all cars at the same time, will add another $18 to $50. Both auto buyers and builders may be getting off relatively easy, for now. The first list, admits Haddon, does not "go as far as safety standards will in the future."

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