Air bags–Boycotts
"CARS Foundation"
"On August 22, 1988, the CARS Foundation launched a campaign to boycott Peugeot because of both their poor crash-test safety record and refusal to address the situation. Peugeot has since left the U.S. market completely, citing the poor market conditions. The CARS Foundation has now expanded its boycott to include all vehicle makes and models without air bags."
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SafetyBeltSafe News, November, 1993
"Drive made for air bags 3 groups ask buyers to shun cars without device"
WASHINGTON – (AP)--Rosemary Shahan, president of the [CARS Foundation], noted that many automakers equip their luxury vehicles with air bags, but not the lower-priced ones, claming the $230 devices would scare off bargain hunters. But Chrysler, she noted, has several economy models…with driver air bags as standard equipment. 'If Chrysler can put air bags in a car for under $8,000, what's Honda's excuse for leaving them out of the Civic CRX, which costs over $11,000?' she asked."
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The Associated Press, October 20, 1990
"Consumers urged to refuse to buy car without air bags"
"WASHINGTON – Three auto consumer groups asked Americans to reuse to buy any car not equipped with air bags and chastised most Japanese automakers for lagging behind U.S. and European counterparts in plans to install the crash-protection devices. Chrysler, which is providing air bags in virtually all of its 1991 cars, drew a limited salute from the three, the CARS Foundation, Center for Auto Safety, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group…The three consumer organizations staged news conferences in 12 cities to propose the boycott and focused their ire on Japanese economy models. Rosemary Shahan, president of the CARS Foundation, said many automakers equip luxury vehicles with air bags but claim the $320 devices would drive away bargain hunters. But Chrysler, she noted, has several economy models with driver air gags as standard equipment. 'If Chrysler can put air bags in a car for under $8,000, what's Honda's excuse for leaving them out of the Civic CRX, which costs over $11,000?' she asked."
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Associated Press, October
18, 1990
CARS Foundation mulls boycott to promote air bags
Shahan was in Boston this week to talk about her current safety campaign: air bags and a selective boycott to promote them. If you are beginning to think that Shahan is another crazed liberal in tennis shoes, swinging an umbrella at windmills, you are mistaken. Shahan recognizes several facts of automotive life. Air bags, in conjunction with seat belts, prevent a devastating class of injuries in high-speed frontal collisions that belts alone too often cannot prevent: serious head trauma and disfiguring facial lacerations.
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Boston Globe, October 24, 1987
Consumer Affairs Letter "Dialogue"
"They call her the 'bag lady,' because of her fixation on air bags. Doubtless, many in the auto industry have other names for her as well, because of her effectiveness as a pioneer advocate of Lemon Laws and her hard line in the recent attempt at renegotiating FTC's informal dispute resolution regulations (Rule 703). Shahan's evolution from a woman scorned (by a San Diego car dealer who wouldn't fix her car properly), to the head of a potentially powerful national air bag coalition, is a classic case history in consumer activism."
–The Consumer Affairs Letter, Washington, D.C. September, 1987