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Walk through a salvage yard or an auction where wrecked cars are sold. I remember just outside a bodyshop I worked in around 1970. There was a Plymouth Road Runner that had been stolen off the new car lot. It was crossing the James River Bridge at a very high speed (two lanes) and hit another car head on at an impact speed of at least 100 MPH.
The stench would drive any normal persons puke reflex to uncontrollable. The inside of the car was covered with shredded parts of human beings. Nothing would have prevented the death of every person involved. It was ghastly, the tailpipes were driven 3-4 feet out past the rear bumper.
Are safety devices really necessary? I don't know how many people died in that crash, probably about 6, but that's just a guess. Only the driver of the stolen Road Runner was at fault.
In any human interaction there are resonable expectations of consideration on the part of the parties involved. Few stituations can have such devastating and permanent consequencesas car accidents. I'm am far from what I would consider liberal in my political beliefs, but when it comes to auto accidents jsut consider my most recent insurance premium for the bike. Just over $100 of which $80 of that annual premium is for uninsured motorists. That is in a state where you are required by law to carry insurance.
The safety devices in modern cars have saved hundreds of thousands of lives, in the US alone.
Do we really need all of that safety stuff? Based on the percentage of the bike premium I would have to conclude that they are essential.
2 million have died on US highways in my lifetime, the peak fatality rate reached close to 55k per year, now it is close to half that, even though the total miles travelled has vastly increased.
That is just deaths to say nothing about serious permanent injuries.
regards
mech
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