WASHINGTON -- The Reagan administration Friday eased federal standards to require that front and rear bumpers protect a passenger car in low-impact crashes up to 2 miles per hour, instead of the current 5 mph.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said the new standard, which will become effective 45 days after publication in the Federal Register, will save consumers $300 million.
The agency also opened the door to the possibility of even more lenient bumper standards in the future for some cars.
The actions were immediately branded by Ralph Nader as 'just outrageous.'
The decision 'will inflict almost half a billion dollars in added costs on motorists who are forced to buy automobles with cream-puff bumpers,' Nader said. 'The sales of replacement parts by the auto industry will go up and so will motorists' insurance premiums.'
Agency Administrator Raymond Peck Jr. said a regulatory analysis concluded the new bumper standard will yield an additional $28 in net benefits to consumers over the life of the vehicle when compared to the current 5 mph standard.
The net $28 is based on vehicle price and fuel savings of $93, offset by an increase of $65 in higher repair, insurance and other costs, he said.
'Every single analsysis showed the existing 5 mph standard was not cost-beneficial,' he said in an interview. 'The 2.5 mph standard best meets the statutory test of the maximum feasible reduction in cost to the public and the consumer.'
The safety agency said it plans to pursue two other bumper programs: one that would test for bumpers exceeding the standard in order to help consumers purchase additional protection if they desire, and another to investigate possible alternatives to the federal standard that would offer less protection.
'We're only opening the door to the question of whether it would be appropriate,' Peck said of the second program. 'We would consider establishing separate standards for classes or models of vehicles in the future. Our concern would be, is there an alternative way to achieve the statutory requirement?'
In the late 1970s, Congress directed the safety agency to undertake a full-scale analysis of the bumper standard. The analysis was started under the Carter administration and completed last April.
The standard was also one of three dozen designated for review last year by President Reagan's auto industry task force.
Peck said the 2 mph standard front and rear was chosen from a number of alternatives because it would most quickly produce savings for the consumer.
He explained, for example, that self-restoring shock absorbers could be left off of bumpers now in existence at a savings of $18 to $25 to the consumer.
The automakers expressed satisfaction with the decision.
'General Motors is encouraged by this new evidence of the Reagan administration's commitment to make auto regulation as cost-effective as possible,' a GM spokesman said in Detroit. 'We are confident that the 2 mph standard is, overall, a better value for our customers.'
The spokesman said GM will begin making changes immediately where possible and will pass the savings on to customers, but added, 'The total saving cannot be realized until models are redesigned, which will be over a 5-to-8-year span.'
Roger Maugh, director of Ford Motor Co.'s automotive safety office, said, 'We believe these amendments will benefit the consumer by making owning and operating a car less expensive.'
But Clarence Ditlow, head of the Nader-backed Center for Auto Safety, said the decision 'can only cost consumers a half billion dollars a year.'
'When more than 90 percent of the American public supports the 5 mph bumper standard, the only reason for (the agency's) action can be to increase the profits of the auto companies through replacement fenders and crash repairs,' he said.
