Show V w fi'P'fJ iJ-j'- i tpSs-Ji- V fW&f- - - j4 jSEt-Wj- - i ’ 4j?l The Herald Journal Logan Utah Tuesday April 1 1997 — Page 9 Study: Most receive minor injuries from air bags WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly of said “They are primarily scuffs and scrapes to the two-thir- driven in crashes of air cars were injured by the deploying bag but most of the injuries were just scrapes and bruises an analysis of S40 crashes found About 3 percent of the driven — or 18 — suffered broken bones in the forearm or hand according to the analysis by the Univcnily of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute The fractures were caused by the deploying air bag lhe air bag cover or the air bag flinging drivers arms and hands into the dashboard or windshield Donald F Huelke a lead researcher said in a telephone interview Monday of the driven bad injuries to Nearly two-thir- the arms hands face or upper body and most injuries were minor scrapes bruises or cuts Huelke air bag injuries Huelke and other researchers at the institute looked at 340 crashes involving the deployment of driver-sid- e air hags in a variety of vehicles through forearm or face he said Air bags deploying at up to 21)0 mph have saved the lives of more than 1700 people nearly all of them drivers according to government estimates but have been blamed for the deaths of 38 children and 24 adults "Air bags do cause an injury here or there and some people have been killed but overall they are very good at saving lives" said Huelke In many cases without the air bag an accident victim could have suffered greater injuries he said The researchcn found that 38 percent of the driven suffered forearm and hand injuries while one in there driven sustained a facial injury according to papen they published this year Only a handful of papen have been published on mid-IW- AN ml 2 percent — or 1 drivers — sustained eye injuries from air hag deployment primarily scuffs on the eyeball or some blood in the eye Huelke said "In almost all the cases the driver recovered from the injury and there were no long-tereffects" he said However a report published in March that reviewed five cases of air bag injuries treated at the University of California Los Angeles ophthalmology trauma center concluded air tegs could be hazardous to the eyes "The study highlights that air tegs need some 1 m changes in design" said l)r lidward L Manchc the paper's lead author and director of cornea and refractive surgery at Stanford University Medical Center In one accident a woman became legally blind in one eye after she crashed into another car at 20 mph d and her air bag deployed In another accident a woman's contact lenses broke and she needed surgery to repair a detached retina in her right eye and a lorn retina in her left eye All five patients suffered bleeding in the eyeball Huelke said women and shorter drivers are more likely to receive facial injuries from an inflating air low-spee- bag Nearly 42 percent of the female drivers sustained facial injuries — again mostly cuts scrapes and bruises More banks charging for ATMs WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of ATMs that charge con sumers extra for using a cash machine not owned by their bank has nearly doubled to 43 percent in six months a consumer group said today At the same time the average cost of the surcharges is up and big banks are inclined to charge more for the service than small banks the US Public Interest Research Group said in a report released on the first anniversary of the decision by the nation’s two largest automated teller networks to allow ATM owners to charge a second fee The surcharges which are paid to the bank operating the ttM come on top of fees many customers pay to their own banks when they use another bank’s machine But a bankers’ group spokesman maintained that the fees are outweighed by the convenience for customers and are needed to make the 24-ho- ur machines profitable The survey by FIRG a con-- i with liber-sutner al activist Ralph Nader covered 860 automated teller machines in 27 states and the District of Columbia out of a total 140J100 nationwide It found that 43 percent of them charged consumers for using another murk’s machine in March nearly double the 23 percent recorded by the group in a survey in September The most common fee was $1 followed by $150 They ranged from 23 cents to $250 The new survey also found that 52 percent of ATMs owned by the nation’s 100 largest banks levied surcharges averaging $124 while 39 percent of smaller banks charged fees averaging $106 Only 6 percent of member-owne- d credit unions imposed fees which averaged 67 cents the group said “The study found that big banks use their monopoly muscle to charge more and higher rip-o- ff surcharges than do small banks mid credit unions” said Ed Mierzwinski PIRG’s consumer program director “(ATM) sur charging is one example of fee gouging by big banks which seek to ruse" fees invent new fees and make it harder for consumers to avoid fees” The average AIM surcharge is now $115 up from 97 cents last year the survey found PIRG said the increase more than doubled the cost of many ATM transactions Sen Alfonse D’Amato Y chairman of the Senate Banking Committee Everything in the Store and Rep Bernar Sanders of Vermont the House’s sole independent have proposed measures to prohibit ATM surcharges Connecticut and Iowa have outlawed the fees and legisconsidered in Arizona California j i Mis- souri Montana New Jersey New York Oregon - i4i Pennsylvania K '! "h - Aa lation to ban the surcharges or impose a moratorium is being Maryland Massachusetts f" - ’'IVri Aft vrA v VS ’w j ivVjL Tfcxas and Washington state John Hall a spokesman for the American Bankers Association said his group believed “the mar- for ketplace should decide prices AIMa not the government” Hall said the rapid growth in machines over the past year — a record 33400 new ATMs were installed in 1996 — was made which possible by the surcharges rent security toward paying go costs and other expenses for the machines m to m PC: r p i J - 4 Jr V'SnlS m Detfioiii Liz Onbotna Wbndarfcra lavft UrboNom Dr Mortal and I I dioo frngranm and gdl eartifieaUi He said most banks offer unlimited free ATM use for their the bank s customers using machines In February a group of small California banks and thrifts tended together to fight ATM fees charged by bigger rivals Please visit us Mon-S- at located store at our conveniently Mall Valiev sun Caclio loam-9pClosed m I tm COPY 'I iWst mj |