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GEIER v. AMERICAN HONDA MOTOR CO.

Opinion of the Court

208 was “ ‘a de facto airbag mandate’ ” because of the state
of passive restraint technology), at no point did FMVSS 208
formally require the use of airbags. From the start, as in
1984, it permitted passive restraint options.

DOT gave manufacturers a further choice for new vehicles
manufactured between 1972 and August 1975. Manufactur-
ers could either install a passive restraint device such as au-
tomatic seatbelts or airbags or retain manual belts and add
an “ignition interlock” device that in effect forced occupants
to buckle up by preventing the ignition otherwise from turn-
ing on.
37 Fed. Reg. 3911 (1972). The interlock soon be-
came popular with manufacturers. And in 1974, when the
agency approved the use of detachable automatic seatbelts,
it conditioned that approval by providing that such systems
must include an interlock system and a continuous warning
buzzer to encourage reattachment of the belt.
39 Fed. Reg.
14593. But the interlock and buzzer devices were most un-
popular with the public. And Congress, responding to pub-
lic pressure, passed a law that forbade DOT from requiring,
or permitting compliance by means of, such devices. Motor
Vehicle and Schoolbus Safety Amendments of 1974, § 109, 88
Stat. 1482 (previously codiﬁed at 15 U. S. C. § 1410b(b) (1988
ed.)).

That experience inﬂuenced DOT’s subsequent passive re-
In 1976, DOT Secretary William T. Cole-
straint initiatives.
man, Jr., fearing continued public resistance, suspended the
passive restraint requirements. He sought to win public ac-
ceptance for a variety of passive restraint devices through a
demonstration project that would involve about half a million
new automobiles. State Farm, supra, at 37. But his suc-
cessor, Brock Adams, canceled the project, instead amending
FMVSS 208 to require passive restraints, principally either
airbags or passive seatbelts.

42 Fed. Reg. 34289 (1977).

Andrew Lewis, a new DOT Secretary in a new administra-
tion, rescinded the Adams requirements, primarily because
DOT learned that the industry planned to satisfy those