Page 14-Wednesday, May 3, 197$-The Michigan Daily
AUTO ANTI-THEFT DEVICES PROPOSED:
End of the line or joyriders?
WASHINGTON (AP)-The Trans-
portation Department, leveling its
sights primarily on joyriding thieves,
announced plans yesterday to require
automobile manufacturers to install
anti-theft equipment beginning with
1981 models.
The devices include protected
ignition wires to prevent a car from
being started without a key, hood lat-
ches that can be released only from in-
side the car and rounded door-lock
mechanisms that prevent a door from
being opened by poking a coat hanger
through a window crack.
MANY NEWER model automobiles
already include one or more of the
protective systems that would be
required by the proposal, announced by
the department's National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration.
Joan Clayboork, the agency's ad-
ministrator, said the proposed rule is
aimed mostly at thwarting young
thieves who steal vehicles for transpor-
tation or for their parts.
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"The joyrider thief is involved in at
least a third of the actual number of
vehicles stolen, but accounts for a very
large majority of stolen vehicles that
are later involved in accidents," she
said.
CLAYBROOK SAID approximately
one million vehicles were stolen in the
United States in 1976, and that the cost
to society is about $2.9 billion a year.
She added that stolen cars cause ap-
proximately 130 fatalities and 5,000
disabling injuries annually.
The proposed changes would be effec-
tive beginning with 1981 model
passenger cars and 1982 model
multipurpose vehicles and -trucks with
a gross vehicle weight of less than
10,000 pounds.
The traffic safety administration
estimated the manufacturers' cost of
installing the security devices would be
$1 ro $2 for each passenger car and $3 to
$5 for each light truck and multipurpose
vehicle.
THE PROPOSED changes would
require the following:
-The hood latch must be releasable
ony from the passenger compartmen.
-The ignition key must be different
from the door and trunk keys.
-Installation of door lock buttons
that cannot be opened by external
devices such asa coat hanger.
-Door locking mechanism inside the
panel must be shielded to prevent tam-
pering.
-The ignition system must have-a
capacity to become inoperable if the
ignition lock is removed.
-Ignition key alarm must be equip-
ped to continue whenever the engine is
turned off, the ignition key is left in the
ignition and the door is opened.
The agency said interested persons
can comment on the proposal through
July 31 by writing to the Docket Section,
National Highway Traffic Safety Ad-
ministration, 400 Seventh Street,
Washingtin, D.C. 20590.
Police hunt escaped rapist
(Continued from Page 3) weighing about 155 pounds. When last
other prisoners, seen Sunday afternoon he was wearing
It was the first escape from the coun- dark blue knit pants, a blue and white
ty jail since it moved from its previous checked short-sleeve shirt, a blue
downtown Ann Arbor location-. sweatshirt (possibly hooded) and black
Sheriff's Department authorities say leather shoes. He has a scar on the right
the search for Wooten is in effect side of his back.
statewide, with out-of-state leads Sheriff's Department officials are
exhausted for the moment, urging anyone who may have seen
The 21-year-old convict is described Wooten or who may have information in
as black, 5 feet 11 inches tall and the case to call them at 971-8400.
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