In article , "J. Clarke" wrote:
Doug Miller wrote:

In article , "J. Clarke"
wrote:

And how many people die because they think the airbag is a substitute for
a
seat belt? And if it's such a good idea then why couldn't the airbag
manufacturers sell it to the FAA or the various racing organizations? Has
there been a reduction in highway fatalities since airbags were mandated?

Why not the FAA? Because it's pointless. Most deaths in aircraft crashes
are caused by fire, either directly or by smoke inhalation, not by impact
injuries.

Why not racing organizations? Pointless again. It's evidently escaped your
notice that fatalities in auto racing are actually rather rare events;
roll bars and five-point harnesses do a pretty good job of protecting the
drivers. Furthermore, racing crashes tend mostly to be sideswipes, either
with another car or with a retaining wall. It's difficult to see that
airbags would provide any meaningful additional protection. Particularly
in collisions at 200+ MPH.

No, it has not "escaped my notice". My point obviously escaped yours.

I guess it did. I wasn't completely sure that you had one there to begin with.

My point was that the merits of using airbags in passenger automobiles are not
diminished in the least by the failure to employ airbags in other situations
where they are manifestly far less useful.

Whether there has been a reduction in highway fatalities since airbags
were mandated is irrelevant: most collisions occur on secondary roads.

Never mind, if you are picking at points this trivial I'm not wasting any
more time on you.

Perhaps you should have been more precise with your terminology. :-)

In the United States at least, fatalities from automobile accidents have
been declining for a number of years, even though the number of cars and
the number of drivers have been increasing, and the distance driven per
driver per year has been increasing even faster. I won't claim that's due
entirely to airbags; obviously other factors such as mandatory seat belt
laws, seat belt education, and numerous improvements in the design of both
vehicles and roads have contributed to the decline as well, but it would
be silly to think that airbags have had no effect

I notice that you do not mention the increased quality and availability of
trauma care.

So I missed that one. Doesn't change the final conclusion: it would be silly
to think that airbags have had no effect.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

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