The Transportation Department proposed stricter automobile safety standards to protect occupants in side-impact crashes, ending five years of delays on the issue. Critics of the proposal

immediately raised questions about the planned regulation because it does not cover small trucks and mini-vans and allows auto makers at least three more years before any improvements would

have to be made. Side-impact accidents reportedly cause more than 8,000 fatalities and 23,000 serious injuries a year. Government standards on side-impact crashes have been the subject of

debate for more than a decade. The Center for Auto Safety, a private consumer-oriented group, petitioned the government in 1977 to develop better standards. The Transportation Department