Traffic council will still define chronogram for the installation of that safety item, which will be required only for the driver and the front passenger.

The House approved, on Wednesday (18), the Bill 1825/07, proposed by the Senate, which makes the front airbag mandatory for new vehicles produced in Brazil and for imported cars. The incorporation of that equipment will be progressive, from the fifth year after the regulation by the National Traffic Council (Contran), in the case of already existing car models. The matter will be submitted to presidential sanction.

Contran will define a chronogram of implementation with technical specifications. The requirement for the future projected cars will start from the first year after this definition, including for imported cars. Both for current and future models, the equipment will be only mandatory at the driver’s and front passenger’s seat. The requirement does not apply to vehicles for export.

The car assemblers are resisting to the bill. They allege that the high cost incorporated to the basic model will discourage the purchase of new cars. Those who defend the project affirm that the production in series of airbags will allow the reduction of its price, as with the substitution of the conventional seat belt (used only at below the belly) for the three-point one.

Large term
The deputy Hugo Leal (PSC-RJ) defended the definition, in Legislation, of installation percentages of that equipment regarding the total amount of produced cars, instead of letting that initiative to Contran. He was the rapporteur on the matter of the Committee on the Constitution and Justice and Citizenship (CCJ) and presented a favorable opinion to the text.

The deputy Pompeo de Mattos (PDT-RS), the author of one of the bills being processed jointly with the Senate, defended the approval of the text. However, he lamented the delay in the processing of the bill, which resulted in a preference for the Senate’s text at the committees.

“The airbag has been saving the lives of those who can afford their inclusion in their cars, but the poorer ones should also have the right to that equipment”, said Mattos.

Traffic code
The requirement of airbag was already in the original wording of the Brazilian Traffic Code (Law 9,503) in 1997. It was vetoed, though, by the President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who was the president at that time. He argued that the fact that the imposition was valid for all vehicles, without distinction, created technical problems.

Reportagem - Eduardo Piovesan
Edição - João Pitella Junior
Translation – Positive Idiomas Ltda