Why aren side airbags and head/side curtain airbags standard?
Because the manufacturers aren’t required by NHTSA to include them as standard equipment, they don’t. Although testing and research done in the 1980s and 1990s clearly shows that side airbags and head/side curtain airbags could save thousands of lives, the US Federal Government continues to drag their feet. History shows that it takes NHTSA ten years or longer to mandate life saving technology. Although they’re not mandatory we do not recommend that anyone purchase a vehicle without side or head airbags, no matter what its rating.
