[Grant-53]

I spent the seventies following the auto safety debates as a mechanical engineering student. True, dead men pay no taxes nor do they buy new cars. The ethics and politics of safety can get counterintuitive at times. The basic reality is that sound standards and designs save 10,000 lives a year in this country alone. A crash resistant chassis must be carefully designed but does not have to be massively heavy. This is the 'lead sled' fallacy. Geometry and material selection are critical to a robust design. A trike or streamlined motorcycle can be agile and provide a great deal of crash protection using materials such as honey comb aluminum, foam, and steel tubing. Consider that many legislators are lawyers by training, not engineers. They rely in industry societies and consultant studies to help write the laws. It is up to us to give input on what is the state of the art in efficiency and safety as well as quality and convenience. The classic American car was 2 tons, long wheelbase, low rpm V8 because that was a comfortable touring car as in 'See the USA in a Chevrolet' and gas was cheap. Now we fly for any trip more than 500 miles. We are still overcoming the Hell's Angels stereotype and the cyclists are hazards to navigation mentality.