jad@harpo.UUCP (jad) (09/04/85)
If you had the power to save lives, would you do it? You and I do have that power. On this day and at this moment, people are being smashed to death inside their cars when their lives could be preserved by air bags. We are deprived of air bags by the opposing efforts of the powerful auto industry. Safety experts claim that each year air bags would prevent thousands of deaths and prevent hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. A chorus of voices raised in unison and directed at our representatives would have a great impact. Please write. No endeavor is more important nor more noble than to save lives.
bennet@gymble.UUCP (Tom Bennet) (09/06/85)
>From jad@harpo.UUCP (jad) Wed Sep 4 16:32:11 1985 >Message-ID: <2776@harpo.UUCP> > > If you had the power to save lives, would you do it? You and I do have that > power. On this day and at this moment, people are being smashed to death > inside their cars when their lives could be preserved by air bags. Their lives could also be preserved if they would wear their seat belts, a far cheaper system. > We are > deprived of air bags by the opposing efforts of the powerful auto industry. > Safety experts claim that each year air bags would prevent thousands of > deaths and prevent hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. ...No endeavor > is more important nor more noble > than to save lives. > Well, I'm not a part of the auto industry, but I for one am just as happy to be deprived of air bags rather than have to pay for them. If the auto industry were required to offer them as options, at their actual cost, that would be okay. The argument about whether bags are actually cheaper for liablity reasons or whether you can just limit liability when a person is not wearing belts has already been considered at length in this group, but the real point is simply this: why should I expend a lot of energy to save people who won't take step 1 to save themselves? I'm happy to help someone try, but these people aren't trying. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "That we have made a hero of Howard Hughes tells us ... that the secret point of money and power in America is neither the things that money can buy nor power for power's sake ..., but absolute personal freedom, mobility, privacy." -- Joan Didion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Bennet @ U of MD Comp Sci Dept | ..!ihnp4!seismo!umcp-cs!gymble!bennet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gene@batman.UUCP (Gene Mutschler) (09/06/85)
This has all been covered before in net.auto, and I'm probably just one of a thousand followups, but here goes... > > On this day and at this moment, people are being smashed to death > inside their cars when their lives could be preserved by air bags. We are > deprived of air bags by the opposing efforts of the powerful auto industry. and a whole lot of people like me who don't want to be looking at a bomb (an expensive bomb) in our steering wheels. > Safety experts claim that each year air bags would prevent thousands of > deaths and prevent hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. A chorus of > voices raised in unison and directed at our representatives would have a > great impact. Please write. It's even easier than writing. You get in your car and fasten your SEAT BELT. Look closely at your car--it probably has them, although you may have tucked yours under the seat. It works and it's cheap. Use yours and let the fool who won't suffer the consequences instead of being his Big Brother. On the other hand, if you really want air bags, I am sure that in this free market system you can find someone willing to install one in your car. -- Gene Mutschler {ihnp4 seismo ctvax}!ut-sally!batman!gene Burroughs Corp. Austin Research Center cmp.barc@utexas-20.ARPA (512) 258-2495
mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch) (09/09/85)
In article <2776@harpo.UUCP> jad@harpo.UUCP (jad) writes: > > If you had the power to save lives, would you do it? You and I do have that > power. On this day and at this moment, people are being smashed to death > inside their cars when their lives could be preserved by air bags. We are > deprived of air bags by the opposing efforts of the powerful auto industry. > Safety experts claim that each year air bags would prevent thousands of > deaths and prevent hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. A chorus of > voices raised in unison and directed at our representatives would have a > great impact. Please write. No endeavor is more important nor more noble > than to save lives. > I don't understand the importance of being "deprived" of air bags by the auto industry. Anyone who wants to enhance the the safety of their travel need only decide to wear seat belts (which are *much* more effective than air bags) and insist that their passengers do likewise. The problem of mandatory air bags or passive restraints is that they must be paid for by *everyone*, including those who wear seat belts. The cost might just be low enough to make this a marginally acceptable public policy, but in principle it shouldn't be done. Michael C. Berch mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA {akgua,allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,dual,ihnp4,sun}!idi!styx!mcb
todd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) (09/09/85)
> If you had the power to save lives, would you do it? You and I do have that > power. On this day and at this moment, people are being smashed to death > inside their cars when their lives could be preserved by air bags. We are > deprived of air bags by the opposing efforts of the powerful auto industry. > Safety experts claim that each year air bags would prevent thousands of > deaths and prevent hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. A chorus of > voices raised in unison and directed at our representatives would have a > great impact. Please write. No endeavor is more important nor more noble > than to save lives. I heard (though it may have been a Republican inspired rumor) there were many problems with airbags inflating on the highway when cars run over small objects. If this is true, I'll go on wearing my seatbelt. -todd jones
king@kestrel.ARPA (09/10/85)
In article <409@scirtp.UUCP>, todd@scirtp.UUCP (Todd Jones) writes: If > > you had the power to save lives, would you do it? You and I do > > have that power. On this day and at this moment, people are > > being smashed to death inside their cars when their lives could > > be preserved by air bags. We are deprived of air bags by the > > opposing efforts of the powerful auto industry. Safety experts > > claim that each year air bags would prevent thousands of deaths > > and prevent hundreds of thousands of serious injuries. A chorus > > of voices raised in unison and directed at our representatives > > would have a great impact. Please write. No endeavor is more > > important nor more noble than to save lives. > > I heard (though it may have been a Republican inspired rumor) there > were many problems with airbags inflating on the highway when cars > run over small objects. If this is true, I'll go on wearing my seatbelt. > > -todd jones I wish to point out another problem with airbags. They are alledged to cut the death rate by 15% or so, unlike seatbelts which can cut it by 35%. (The reason is that they only protect against head-ons.) Suppose the existence of airbags convinces a sizable portion of the population not to wear seatbelts. This is hardly implausible, as people may perceive themselves as protected, and as fewer states would pass seatbelt laws if aurbags were mandatory.
meister@linus.UUCP (Phillip W. Servita) (09/13/85)
In article <184@batman.UUCP> gene@batman.UUCP (Gene Mutschler) writes: >It's even easier than writing. You get in your car and fasten your SEAT >BELT. Look closely at your car--it probably has them, although you may have >tucked yours under the seat. It works and it's cheap. Use yours and let >the fool who won't suffer the consequences instead of being his Big Brother. > >On the other hand, if you really want air bags, I am sure that in this free >market system you can find someone willing to install one in your car. I agree on the seat belts. However, if i really want air bags (and i do) I CANT GET THEM. Unless i made them myself, or tracked down one of the few 1974 Ford cars that had them as an experiment. NOT A SINGLE AUTO MANUFACTURER WILL SUPPLY AIR BAGS EVEN AS AN OPTION. And if i get involved in a 55 mph head on collision a seat belt is not going to be enough. (Do you like broken collarbones? this is one of the weakest places in the human skeleton, and guess what, the standard seat belt places quite a bit of pressure there...) Sorry, but we need air bags as well. -the venn buddhist
bill@persci.UUCP (09/16/85)
In article <555@linus.UUCP> meister@linus.UUCP (Phillip W. Servita) complained: >>[...] >I agree on the seat belts. However, if i really want air bags (and i do) >I CANT GET THEM. [...] NOT A SINGLE AUTO MANUFACTURER >WILL SUPPLY AIR BAGS EVEN AS AN OPTION. Move to California. I read in this morning's Seattle Times that the governer of California has signed a bill that'll require the **** things in every new car sold or registered there starting in '87. (Disclaimer: I don't believe everything I read. *ESPECIALLY* in newspapers!) -- William Swan {ihnp4,decvax,allegra,...}!uw-beaver!tikal!persci!bill
bob@pedsgd.UUCP (Robert A. Weiler) (09/17/85)
Organization : Perkin-Elmer DSG, Tinton Falls NJ Keywords: >In article <555@linus.UUCP> meister@linus.UUCP (Phillip W. Servita) complained: >[...] >I agree on the seat belts. However, if i really want air bags (and i do) >I CANT GET THEM. [...] NOT A SINGLE AUTO MANUFACTURER >WILL SUPPLY AIR BAGS EVEN AS AN OPTION. > This is not true. I understand that certain Mercedes-Benz models are in fact available with air bags. It may of course be impractical for you to buy an MB. I am more worried that installation of airbags would mean the demise of the shoulder belt, and it is not at all clear that airbags provide better protection in the most common types of accidents. Since I wear my seatbelts, I want to make damn sure I am not being saddled with inferior protection at higher cost. If you really want to improve your safety wear your seatbelts and make sure your next car has ABS brakes and full-time four wheel drive. There will be a couple to choose from next year, and no doubt more to follow. And MB at least, will probably have airbags as well. Bob Weiler
king@kestrel.ARPA (09/22/85)
In article <555@linus.UUCP>, meister@linus.UUCP (Phillip W. Servita) writes: > In article <184@batman.UUCP> gene@batman.UUCP (Gene Mutschler) writes: > >It's even easier than writing. You get in your car and fasten your SEAT > >BELT. > I agree on the seat belts. However, if i really want air bags (and i do) > I CANT GET THEM. > Sorry, but we need air bags as well. > > -the venn buddhist I saw an article about a $150 airbag+steering wheel that replaces the steering wheel of a car. It was described in Popular Muckanics a few years ago. I concede that it was for drivers only, and it isn't as complicated as the stuff that's being rammed down our throat by the Feds, but any assertion that you can't buy airbags is false (unless the company went out of business - although I don't see how it could with a hundred million people desparate for airbags that the Big Bad Motor Companies won't let us have :-) ) Sorry - no reference - call your auto parts store if you're serious. -dick
walker@oberon.UUCP (Mike Walker) (09/24/85)
> In article <555@linus.UUCP>, meister@linus.UUCP (Phillip W. Servita) writes: > > In article <184@batman.UUCP> gene@batman.UUCP (Gene Mutschler) writes: > > >It's even easier than writing. You get in your car and fasten your SEAT > > >BELT. > > I agree on the seat belts. However, if i really want air bags (and i do) > > I CANT GET THEM. > > Sorry, but we need air bags as well. > > > > -the venn buddhist > > I saw an article about a $150 airbag+steering wheel that replaces the > steering wheel of a car. It was described in Popular Muckanics a few > years ago. I concede that it was for drivers only, and it isn't as > complicated as the stuff that's being rammed down our throat by the > Feds, but any assertion that you can't buy airbags is false (unless > the company went out of business - although I don't see how it could > with a hundred million people desparate for airbags that the Big Bad > Motor Companies won't let us have :-) ) > > Sorry - no reference - call your auto parts store if you're serious. > > > -dick If you guys really want an air bag in you car buy a Mercedes Benz! Yes, there are MB's which have a driver side air bag. The same system also includes seatbelts that tighten on impact (they have accelerometers in the car). -- Michael D. Walker (Mike) Arpa: walker@oberon.ARPA Uucp: {the (mostly unknown) world}!ihnp4!sdcrdcf!oberon!walker {several select chunks}!sdcrdcf!oberon!walker