CARMAKERS TO WARN OF AIR BAG RISK : LETTER TO DETAIL CHILD SAFETY ISSUE.

Byline: Harry F. Rosenthal Associated Press 

Responding to a worried public, the Big Three automakers said Friday that they will send letters to the owners of 22 million cars with passenger-side air bags in the United States, warning that the devices can kill and injure children.

General Motors, Ford and Chrysler also said they would put less powerful air bags in cars sold in Canada and press for permission to do the same in the United States.

``The good news is that air bags work and air bags save lives,'' said Andrew Card, president of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association. ``We also know air bags can cause deaths.''

Twenty-eight children and infants have died of injuries caused by rapidly deploying passenger-side air bags, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Children and certain adults - especially smaller women - are particularly vulnerable.

An air bag released in a crash deploys at about 200 mph, Card said. The ``depowered'' version to be introduced in Big Three cars in Canada will expand at about 150 mph.

Card said passengers should be at least 12 inches away from the dashboard to escape air bag injury.

Chrysler, Ford and GM also will consult with federal authorities on warning labels to be put into their cars. The labels will say that it's safer for children under 13 to ride buckled up in a rear seat, that lap and shoulder belts should be worn, and that both driver and front passenger seats should be moved back as far as practical.

Experts also warn that infants in rear-facing child safety seats should never ride in the front seat of a car with passenger-side air bags.

Carmakers cannot reduce the expansion force of air bags in the United States without a change in the standards set out in regulations adopted in 1993. There are no such constraints in Canada, where 1.5 million to 1.6 million Big Three cars are sold each year.

The Big Three proposed in August that U.S. regulators move quickly to change the standards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would review the proposals.

Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety in Sacramento, said, ``We're glad they're doing this. We wish they had done it sooner.''

Friday's announcement was evidence of how far the automakers have come from the days of stubborn opposition to air bags. Fifteen years ago, GM announced it was ending an 11-year effort to perfect dashboard air bags because ``we could hardly give them away.''