Itasca firm visits Washington to display new air bag sensor

By Robert McCoppin

June 15, 2000 Web posted at: 10:59 AM EDT (1459 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Daily Herald) -- The same technology used to measure the hand movements of Yo-Yo Ma could prevent a child from being killed by an air bag.

The sensor technology can measure the size and position of a passenger to prevent an air bag from inflating into a child who is too small or too close. Parents may be particularly interested, because the system is supposed to work even if children are acting up in the car.

The company that makes the sensors, NEC Technologies, based in Itasca, is in Washington today demonstrating the sensors to congressional staff members. The presentation is in response to new federal rules that require 35 percent of cars in the United States to have child-sensitive front passenger air bags by 2003 and all cars to have the "smart" bags by 2006. Those rules were prompted by air bag accidents that have killed almost 100 children and 60 adults.

Because most of the children killed were not properly buckled down, regulators require that future air bags not go off if a child is standing or lying down - even though passengers are legally required to be properly restrained. The sensors work by having an antenna in car seats generate an electric field which can detect the mass and location of passengers.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology cooked up the technology to measure movement as precise as that of famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Other companies have been developing competing sensors, using weight detectors, ultra-sound and lasers, in a race to get auto makers to choose their system.

One advantage for NEC is that Honda Accords and Acuras already use its system for side air bags in 1999 and 2000 models and Honda has never had a fatality caused by an air bag, according to consumer group Public Citizen. NEC also will give a presentation this week to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Center for Auto Safety, in hopes of getting their approval.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who saw a presentation on the sensors Monday, said it looked promising. "There have been too many horror stories of infants who've been gravely injured by air bags," said Durbin, a Democrat from Springfield. "I'm pleased we're going to make auto travel safer, particularly for infants."

The sensor also might be used in other ways, such as controlling the power of the air bag inflation, or monitoring head position to make sure a driver isn't falling asleep. Until the new air bags become common, safety experts said, parents can avoid the issue by keeping children and smaller adults in the back seat or getting permission for a switch to turn the air bag off.

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