tjsmedley@watmum.UUCP (Trevor J. Smedley) (01/21/86)
O.K. So we've all been reading stuff about airbags now for God knows
how long. It's about time we had a summary of the arguments so far.
pro: They'll save your life in certain situations.
con: A seatbelt is enough.
pro: No it isn't.
con: They cost money.
pro: It's worth it.
con: They'll go off when I don't want them to and cause an accident.
pro: No they won't.
con: A car with airbags won't have seatbelts.
pro: Yes it will.
I am, at the moment, neither pro nor con for the simple reason that I
am not properly informed on the subject. All the "Yes it is! - No it
isn't!" type discussion will never convince me in either direction.
What would convince me is a published study by some independent firm
on such things as reliability, effectiveness, ... I would like to
propose that any further discussion on the topic of airbags be limited
to references (and possibly quotes) from published material on the
subject. I am afraid of net.auto disappearing because of the high
volume and redundancy.
Trevor J. Smedley University of Waterloo
{decvax,allegra,ihnp4,clyde,utzoo}!watmum!tjsmedleyjohn@gcc-milo.ARPA (John Allred) (01/23/86)
In article <370@watmum.UUCP> tjsmedley@watmum.UUCP (Trevor J. Smedley) writes: >O.K. So we've all been reading stuff about airbags now for God knows >how long. It's about time we had a summary of the arguments so far. I'd like to, uh, "improve" the summary. >pro: They'll save your life in certain situations. > >con: A seatbelt is enough. Not quite. I think the net has conceded that seatbelts will save your life in *more* situations. >pro: No it isn't. Translated: what do we do about the idiots who don't buckle up. I (or anyone else) don't like paying their medicals bills (via insurance.) >con: They'll go off when I don't want them to and cause an accident. > >pro: No they won't. A point that is totally up for grabs. >con: A car with airbags won't have seatbelts. > >pro: Yes it will. From what I remember reading, airbagged cars will have lap belts, but will not have shoulder belts. -- John Allred General Computer Company uucp: seismo!harvard!gcc-milo!john