PAGE 22, WETBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30,1989 Insurance unaffected Air bag supplemental restraint systems de loy equivalent to at least 19 km/h into a brick wa Il. in moderate-to-severe frontal collisions The introduction of air bags in cars will not mean immediate reductions in insurance pre- miums, says one local insurance broker. "Insurance companies are look- ing at it but there are more pressing problems," says Peter DiLello of D.I.S. Insurance Biok- ers. DiLello says insurance com- panies are now dealing with no- fault insurance and increasing pay-outs. Companies have not yet had time to assess the effect of air bags. Ford of Canada will be equip- ping nearly half of its 1990 models with air bags. Nine Ford, Lincoln and Mer- cury models, app:roximately 80,000 cars, will h ave the re- straints as standard equipment. Air bag restraints in 1990 Ford of Canada will equip nearly half of its 1990-model cars wit# air bag supplemental restraint systems this fall, making it Canada's leading manufacturer of cars featuring the safety technology. Nine , Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models -- about 80,000 cars -- will have supplemental air bags as standard equipment in the 1990-model year. In addition, the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz will continue to be offered with an optional driver-side supplemental air bag system. "We believe that the application of supplemental air bags, used along with time-proven three-point safety belts, will provide our customers with one of the most effective means of avoiding serious injury in traffic accidents," said Jack C. Clissold, Ford of Canada vice president, sales and marketing. Ford already has accomplished several "firsts" when it comes to air bags. Ford was the first North American manufacturer to offer a dual driver- and passenger-side air bag supplemental restraint system as standard equipment -- on the 1989 Lincoln Continental. A few years earilier, it was first in North America to offer a driver-side system -- on the Tempo and Topaz. In addition to the Lincoln Continental, Ford of Canada this fall will make air bag supplemental restraint systems standard equipment on: Lincoln Town Car, Lincoln Mark VII, Merkur Scorpio, Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis, Ford Taurus, Mercury Sable and Ford Mustang. Ford is also introducing air bag supplemental restraint systems on the same cars sold in the U.S. In all, the company expects to sell 1,000,000 air bag-equipped cars in North America in 1990. "Air bag supplemental systems deploy in frontal collisions involving a moderate-to-severe impact equivalent to at least 19 km/h into a brick wall," explained Ron Bright, Ford of Canada's director of vehicle safety. Within 1/25 of a second after impact -- lest than half the time it takes to blink -- nylon bags installed in the steering column or dashboard fill with harmless nitrogen gas, cushioning the head, neck and chest, he said. In another split second, vents in the air bag cause it to begin to deflate. This sequence happens so quickly that the air bag will neither >lock a driver's vision nor pin occupants in the car, Bright said. Bright pointed out that air bags are not designed to deploy in accidents involving side or rear impacts, roll-overs or multiple collisions. For these reasons and others, Ford emphasizes that all automobile occupants continue to wear their seat belts. Seat belts also protect occupants from being thrown from their car, help drivers maintain control, and position occupants correctly if the air bag deploys. "Our actual on-the-road experience tells us that today's supplemental air bags work -- they deploy when they're supposed to and deflate in a split second," Bright said. "Over the past several years, Ford has put more than 40,000 air bag-equipped cars on the road. We estimate "Air bag supplemental systems deploy in frontal collisions in- volvng a moderate-to-severe im- pact equivalent to at least 19 km/h into a brick wall," explains Ron Bright, Ford of Canada's director of vehicle safety. Bags installed in the steering column or dashboard fill with nitrogen gas within 1/25 of a second after impact - less than half the time it takes to blink an eye. In another second, vents in the air bag cause it to begin to deflate. The driver's vision will remain unobstructed and occu- pants won't pinned in the car, said Bright. The bags are not designed;to inflate in accidents involving side or rear impacts, roîl-overs. or multiple collisions, said Bright. Fords these vehicles have travelled more than 800 million miles and have been involved in 5,000 accidents, including some 600 that were severe enough to deploy the air bag supplemental restraint system." Sophisticated computer controls prevent the air bag supplemental restraint system from deploying accidentally, Bright said. 'The air bag system is designed to deploy only when the impact occurs with sufficient force over several milliseconds. The system won't go off when you run over a pothole, bang your garage door or hit another car at a very low speed, or if a vandal kicks your fender. There have been no reports of inadvertent deployment in an occupied vehicle," he said. An electronic module monitors the system to make sure it is operative. WE'RE OVER SOCKED •bl îBACK ON 1989 EXCELS AND SONATA·GLS PLUS **3 YR. FREE RIDE MAINTENANCE NOW'S THE TIME TO SAVE BIG! IT ALL ENDS AUGUST 31sf Phone Now To HoId Your Next New Car