charli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips) (09/06/85)
> >Why should I have to spend another $1000 or more >for a new car just because some idiots don't have enough sense to use >the safety equipment that is already provided? > >Ron Thompson I am opposed to mandatory air bags, on roughly the same grounds as Mr. Thompson. I am tired of the government acting in loco parentis for responsible adults. However, I would love to be able to buy a car equipped with airbags. Why can't the car makers offer them as an option? Note: I always wear a seatbelt and shoulder harness, and would continue to do so even if my car had an airbag. However, I was involved in a head-on collision a few years back, and even with a seat belt on I hit my face on the steering wheel. (My '68 VW Beetle was not equipped with shoulder harnesses.) charli
mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse) (09/15/85)
>>I feel absolutely no responsibility to pay some joker for his injuries >>I caused because he didn't wear a seat belt nor do I want him to claim >>personal injury compensation from my insurance company under any >>circumstances. Hear hear. If he doesn't wear a seat belt he deserves whatever he gets. I'm afraid my principle of "mercy towards all" gets a bit strained when it comes to jokers who don't wear seat belts and then expect everyone else to pay for their medical bills (through higher insurance premiums). >Perhaps we should require the insurance companies to pay only the >accident victims who were wearing seat belts. No. Please. Not "require". "Allow", fine. "Encourage" even. But if some company wants to insure bad risks like that, who are *you* to complain? Who don't want us telling you you have to have an airbag in your car? It makes them charge higher premiums, fine, buy from someone else. That's what the free market system is all about. But then, what do I know, I hold extreme views on the side of "regulation is [usually] bad" anyway. For example, I think tobacco and alcohol should be treated just like the stronger drugs like marijuana, hashish, cocaine, etc. Either ban them all or legalize them all (I don't care which, I don't use any of any of them). (Just don't expect me to stick around anyone using them :-) -- der Mouse {ihnp4,decvax,akgua,etc}!utcsri!mcgill-vision!mouse philabs!micomvax!musocs!mcgill-vision!mouse Hacker: One responsible for destroying / Wizard: One responsible for recovering it afterward