phl@druxy.UUCP (LavettePH) (02/02/84)
Haven't seatbelts,airbags and statutory speed limits been beaten to death? No one with a hearing problem wants to sit in a confined space when the equivalent of a twelve gage shotgun blast is set off. Air bags exacerbate the problem,not solve it. The 55 mph limit is a statutory (as opposed to a prima facie) limit that is by its nature completely arbitrary. Logic and government decree have never been synonymous. If anyone truly wanted to be safe on the road the would emulate the only true experts in the field and follow NASCAR rules by equipping their car with a roll bar (not a "decorator" bar) and themselves AND their passengers with harnesses,crash helmets,face shields and flame suits. In thirty-two years of driving I have only seen one driver wear a crash helmet and he almost caused a multi-car accident as everyone turned to stare at him. Considering the number of traffic deaths attributed to burns and head injuries I'm surprised that the safety people don't mandate this proven technology. I'm also surprised that all those people who claim that they want safety on the road are waiting for the government to tell them what to do when their answer becomes crystal clear after once seeing the INDY or FIRECRACKER 500. No,I'm not surprised,the former would be political suicide and the latter would cost out-of-pocket money instead of being buried in the car's price. I'm not surprised that a preponderance of correspondents appear to be more interested in avoiding injury to their bank accounts than to their person. A final thought to those of you who want the insurance companies to "punish" those who don't participate in voluntary safety programs. Do you really want justice meted out in some grubby little boardroom of a company whose vested interest lies in grabbing bigger profits from higher premiums or don't you think that matters of justice rightfully belong in the courts? A final final thought to those of you who think you can save a buck by having the feds mandate safety equipment on all cars and get some kind of a price break through the economies of mass production. Those of us who somehow sur- vived all those perilous days before Big Brother got involved remember that seatbelts were a $15-$20 option that became a $75-$100 non-option.
ags@pucc-i (Seaman) (02/03/84)
I am posting this to both net.followup and net.auto. Please send followups to net.auto only. > No one with a hearing problem wants to sit in a confined space when the > equivalent of a twelve gage shotgun blast is set off. Air bags exacerbate > the problem,not solve it. Where do you get your information? Have you been in a car in which an air bag deployed? I confess I have not, but I saw eyewitness testimony before a congressional committee. A man explained that he had been in an accident in which he was saved by an air bag. At the time it happened, he was not even AWARE of the bag. He figured it out later when he began wondering why he had survived the crash without a scratch, while his wife in the passenger seat (unprotected by an airbag) had suffered serious injuries. I have been fortunate enough not to have been in an auto crash yet, but I don't imagine that experience does much for your hearing, either. -- Dave Seaman ..!pur-ee!pucc-i:ags "Against people who give vent to their loquacity by extraneous bombastic circumlocution."