The Supreme Court and airbags.

In 1969, the Department of Transportation proposed a standard requiring passive restraint systems in automobiles. Nevertheless, 15 years and 60 rulemaking notices later, no such requirement is in effect. In a June 1983 decision, Motor Vehicle Manufacturers v. State Farm Mutual, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to further consider a passive restraint requirement for automobiles, thus writing the later chapter in a protracted regulatory dispute. This article takes us through the ramifications of the passive restraint requirement which, in the Court's own words, has been "imposed, amended, rescinded, reimposed, and now rescinded again."