European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 31, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 the stars and stripes automotive monday january 31,1994 m behind the i Nissan has told Federal Auto safety officials that it will recall 65,000 cars to replace an air bag sensor capping a government investigation into reports by some owners that their cars air bags opened unnecessarily. The voluntary recall involves 1992 and Early 1993 maximal. Complaints from Maxima owners sparked an investigation by the administration in july. It was intensified last month by which time there were 67 owner complaints on file including three with injuries. Edward Brickman of Plainview n.y., Slid the air bag of his 1992 Maxima deployed for no apparent reason last May As he slowed for a traffic Light near his Home. He said the deployment which occurs when spark triggers a canister of propellant cracked his car s Windshield and left him covered with a Black substance and with Burns on his Arm. He then drove to a nearby Hospital for treatment. Nissan says that the deployments in question were caused by severe underbody impacts such As those which occur when a car goes Over a curb causing the air bag sensor to falsely Register a crash the company says the new sensor is less Likely to trigger the air bag in such cases. But Nissan denies there is a defect in the cars. " car owners will be notified by mail possibly As Early As March to take their cars to dealers. A sensor located on the car s drive Tunnel one of three that trigger the air bag will be replaced free of charge. Details of the program including the timing of the notifications and the availability of replacement parts have not been finalized and dealers have not yet been notified Nissan spokesman Mark Adams said " Mercedes whose tripod in a Circle Symbol is part of nearly every German Skyline plans to build at least one car in 10 overseas its director said wednesday. Mercedes the motor division of Daimler Benz Hopes to increase its sales volume to 68 billion Marks $40 billion in 1994 said chairman Helmut Werner after a 3 percent decline in 1993 to 64.4 billion Marks $37.9 billion. He said Mercedes would Advance at a faster rate than average for the Auto Industry in 1994, predicting that unit production would go up from508,000 to 570,000. Mercedes work Force was reduced by 11,000 jobs last year mostly by attrition and another 8,000 jobs Are Likely to disappear in 1994, Werner said. In order to be closer to its markets Mercedes will increase its overseas production from 2 percent to 10 percent in the next few years Werner said. Mercedes announced last year it was building its first . Plant i Alabama. The president of italian sports car maker Lamborghini will oversee Chrysler corp s involvement in the big three Clinton administration venture to develop a super  Timothy Adams will continue to run automobile Lamborghini s, Chrysler s Sale of the company to an indonesian firm is completed. Adams will coordinate the no. 3 automaker s technical work within the partnership for a next generation vehicle which was announced sept.29. From wire reports anti lock brakes doubted Little evidence found of Accident prevention research group says by Tom Incantalupo new Day a safety research group had bad news last week for Drivers who think their cars anti lock brakes will help them make it unscathed through their commutes As Good As they Are on test tracks there is Little or no evidence that anti lock brakes Are preventing accidents on the Road. The conclusion surprised even the group that published it the Highway loss data Institute an insurance Trade organization. And it was quickly challenged by an automaker a manufacturer of anti lock brakes and a Federal safety official. It throws icy water on what has become an accepted truth among Auto safety perts that anti lock braking systems which rapidly pump a car s brakes if a wheel is about to lock can help prevent accidents especially on roads that Are wet or icy. Based on 100,000 Accident reports the Institute said cars and passenger vans with anti lock brakes have about As Many crashes As those without the systems and the crashes Are about As severe. We Don t know How Many crashes Are pre ceded by skidding or loss of control that anti locks could have prevented the Institute said but the new findings suggest the number cannot be very  it s not that the devices Don t work As advertised the Institute said. They help to shorten stopping distances and by keeping the wheels from Locking help the Driver to retain steering control. But the Institute said Many Drivers panic when they skid and do not use that ability to steer around obstacles. Some times the Institute said there simply is nowhere to go. Some Drivers it said do not understand How the systems work and attempt to pump the brakes them selves. And the group suggested that the presence of the systems might encourage Drivers to take More risks in Adverse weather. The Institute with Headquarters in Arlington Vaj compared Accident claims for seven 1991 general motors vehicle the Chevrolet. Cavalier Corsica and Beretta the Pontiac sunbird and three of its minivans All without anti lock Brake against 1992 versions of the same vehicles with anti lock brakes. The study s Validity was questioned by the National Highway traffic safety administration a Federal Agency As Well As by the Robert Bosch corp., a major pro Ducer of anti lock systems and general motors which equips most of its cars and Many of its Light trucks with anti lock brakes unbridled Success High demand from car dealers has prompted the Ford motor co. To increase production of its 1994 Ford Mustang Coupe. Pm tests to add pregnant dummies by the new York times Warren Mich. The Auto Indus try working to sell More cars by Selling safety is about to Send something new hurtling Down the test track a pregnant crash Dummy. The addition of a woman Dummy who is seven months pregnant represents a new Era of precision in safety tests by the Auto Industry now that improvements such As air bags anti lock brakes and Energy absorbing car frames allow people to survive crashes that a decade ago . General motors the progenitor of pregnant Dummy is also a sponsor Ford and the Federal department of transportation of crash tests on cadavers. For years technicians tested How Muc Force it took to break a rib and How Ucli deceleration a body could stand before internal organs were torn Loose. Now they study questions such As How far a foot can Bend in a crushed car before the ankle snaps or the ligaments tear. Gruesome without a doubt. But now that better Protection of the head and Torso Means that More people Are surviving crashes the Protection of their legs and feet has suddenly become More important. Such Are the concerns at pm s crash analysis Laboratory in Warren where on any Given Day As Many As 85 dummies from the 95th-percentile male 6 feet tall and 200 pounds to the fifth percentile female 4 feet 11 inches and 110 pounds a the genderless 6-month-old baby in an infant seat sit lined up in a hallway looking like patients waiting to see thed Oeter. They Don t Wear much at most a tattered shirt. But then they con t need to because their working environment is a constant 75 degrees. They Don t have names technicians  them beyond purely technical appellations like Sid which is Short for Side Impact  in a few weeks pm the Pioneer in crash Dummy technology with nearly 10,000 wrecks to its credit since 1955, will begin crashing cars that carry the preg Nant dummies. She too is nameless but she wears something called a Dummy  it is a polyurethane bag in the shape of uterus filled with a Model of a 28-week old fetus and a gel the same density As amniotic fluid. Despite the 30 years of tests on human cadavers and dummies in varying sizes automakers have done scant systematic research on the effect of automobile Acci dents on pregnant women and their unborn children. Among the research questions is whether a fetus is better off if the mothers wearing a seat Belt or whether an air bag hurts or helps