ibyf@ihlpa.UUCP (Scott) (01/20/86)
> And airbag-equipped cars probably won't have the torso restraint, nor the > necessary structural integrity in the posts to accept the restraint. Who Says? Are you a design engineer for GM? > Here's a realistic nightmare: > About twice a year, the Garden State Parkway turns to invisible > super-slick ice. You can't see it ... you can't brake on it ... all you > can do is steer and ease off the gas -- slowly. Each time, it gets about > 30 drivers or so, most non-fatal (car in ditch, driver quivering wildly). so if its not that bad and only twice a year its fairly isolated also, how about complaining about the city salting? > I am driving in the AM rush hour. I'm stuck in a pack between > a bunch of drivers behind who want to do 75 (three lanes across) and > a bunch who want to do 40 in front (3 lanes across). > We've compromised on 50, with about 1/4 second of clearance > between us. if this is not an exaggeration, your in trouble anyway! > All of a sudden, the front drive in the center makes a sudden > wheel adjustment, and his car fails to respond. He's on the ice. > He hits his brakes and starts spinning. He hits the fellow to his right, > then the one on his left. I ease off the gas and pray for an opening. > The people on my left and right panic -- one goes into a straight skid, > the other bounces off one of the reinforced wood guardrails. > The fellow behind me hits me as I slow, and I pick up 8 MPH or so, then > hit the fellow who just bounced off the guardrail. By this time I am > spinning the wheel wildly and punching the gas in the hope of getting > some traction and being able to not hit anyone else. My arm is across > my body, and the impact with the fellow who careened off the rail sets > off the airbag. The impact rips my hand from the wheel, injures my never happen, read the article you responded to again. > shoulder, elbow, and wrist. All of this takes place faster than I > can comprehend. > Now my car is out of control. I am stunned, with one disabled arm. > The car crashes into an overpass support column (necessarily non-frangible) > and I am without airbag and without torso restraint (which was not designed > into the airbag-equipped car) so when the car hits, I slam into the wheel, > which breaks a couple of ribs, one of which punctures my liver. Without > prompt medical attention I WILL die from internal bleeding and resultant > shock. All the staties and all the ambulances up and down the length of > the parkway are up to their teeth in casualties. What are the odds of my > getting that prompt medical attention? My front seat passenger, who slammed > into the dashboard, suffered a fractured skull. He will live, but will not > remember the accident. > With the three-point harness, none of those injuries would have > occurred. > By the way, I DO favor the airbag for the passenger, but I want 3-point > harnesses all around. Or 5-point harnesses. With the center buckle, > they'd be easier to use. oh, so who cares about ma riding on the other side of the car eh? > Oh, and the next time you feel embarrased about the belts, remember that > no fighter pilot in the world would go up without his 4-or-5-point > harness. And they don't make'em any tougher than that. That harness > is NOT there for an accident. It's there because he can't safely operate > the aircraft without it. And I feel the same way about the 3-point harness. Next time I'm intentionally doing 5g manuvers in my car, I'll remember this! > from Mole End Mark Terribile OK, how about this, your driving along, wearing your 18 point harness (what ever happened to seat belts?) and theres a motorcycle gang in front of you. this semi-full of chain saws crosses the median, and hits two of the bikers. now, one of the bikers hits the semi, putting a big hole in it and the chain saws start spilling out onto the road. As you swerve to miss one, you hit another biker and see him flying over the handle bars right at you! You duck but you 27 point harness keeps you pretty much in place, but because you have it adjusted just right so you can reach the radio, the top belt slips up right across your throat. Now you hit the chain saws, and this shreds your tires, you go sliding into the guard rail. The foward impact strangles you and collapses your windpipe, but luckily for you, the belt breaks. Now, you come upon the semi, and slam into it head on. Again the 34 point harness does its job, pinning you to the seat. In doing this however, the waist belt cuts into you spleen, rupturing it and causing you severe pain. Your pain quickly goes as the semi runs over you car, smashing it (and you) to a thickness of less than 12 inches. The point is.....any "safety" device can be shown to be useless and even dangerous if put into a certain scenario. Addison ihnp4!ihlpa!ibyf My brother? I always thought of him as mom and dad's science project.