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Airbag Safety Remains an Issue

27 May 1998

With Consumer Confidence in Vehicle Safety Equipment on the Rise, Airbag Safety Remains an Issue

          Vehicle Safety Equipment Rises in Importance to Car Buyers

    GLENDALE, Calif., May 27 -- According to a national consumer
survey conducted by The Dohring Company, the importance of vehicle safety
equipment to consumers in their car-buying decisions rose in the last year,
despite a considerable drop in 1997.  The equipment showing the largest
increase was driver and passenger airbags, side impact airbags, Antilock Brake
Systems and Automotive emergency 911 calling systems.
    The number of respondents who said that driver and passenger airbags were
important increased 6 percent and those who said side impact airbags were
important increased 7 percent from one year ago, the last time the annual
study was done.
    "It is clear that consumer confidence in safety related equipment is once
again on the rise, which is a positive sign," commented Rik Kinney, senior
vice president of The Dohring Company.  "However, while the majority of
consumers still feel safer with air bags (62%), the most recent results still
show a drop of 15-20 percentage points below the 1996 levels; a time when
consumers were not yet concerned about injuries to young children such as
suffocation, broken necks, broken noses and decapitations."
    According to the poll, the top safety concern currently voiced by
consumers regarding airbags is the suffocation of children (23%), followed by
too much pressure (16%) and small adult suffocation (15%).
    Safety-related equipment vehicle options were rated as "very important" or
"important" as follows:

    Equipment                                     % of consumers rating as
                                                Very important or important

                                              1996       1997      1998
    Driver and passenger airbags               82%        57%       63%
    Side impact airbags                        58%        37%       44%
    Antilock Brake System                      82%        72%       78%
    Traction control                           77%        74%       77%
    Crush/crumple zones                        75%        73%       77%
    Automatic emergency 911 calling system     50%        48%       53%
    Electronic collision detection system      43%        41%       44%

    The study was completed in January 1998, with a random sample of 1,253
qualified consumers from all 50 states.  The poll's margin error is =/- 2.8
percent.
    The Dohring Company, Inc. is North America's largest provider of custom
market research to the retail automotive industry.  The Glendale, California-
based firm has conducted over 4,000 studies for automobile dealers, automotive
dealer advertising associations, automakers and suppliers, and more than one
million vehicle buyer interviews.