Beginning January 19, 1998, the final rule allows repair shops and dealers to install "on-off" switches that allow air bags in passenger cars and light trucks to be turned on and off in appropriate circumstances. Dealers and repair shops cannot perform this work without an authorization letter from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Vehicle owners can get this authorization letter by filling out a request form developed by NHTSA and sending it to the agency. Vehicle owners can only get on-off switches installed if they have a medical condition or needs a child restraint in the front seat.
             Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of five and twenty-seven. Air bags reduce the risk of dying in a direct frontal crash by about thirty percent. Air bags have saved over 4,758 lives since 1999. They also have prevented a large number of serious head and chest injuries. Children however have been the primary victims of death among air bags with approximately 146 confirmed deaths since 1999. Could some of these deaths have been prevented if the air bag in front of them would have been turned off? Critics say yes.
             The airbag option was founded in November 1996 to address the growing safety concerns brought on by the disfigurement and killing of drivers and passengers of automobiles equipped with S.R.S (safety restraint systems).
             "Government is best which governs least." Quoted by Henry Thoreau. We just don't need laws on airbags at all. It would be more practical for the driver of the car to make the choice if the airbag should be on or off. Many of us have vehicles that are equipped with air bags. Every driver and passenger should have the right to make the decision to have an air bag on or off. There is a major airbag problem throughout the United States and we can find a very workable solution for it.
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