|
Some people use their vehicles mostly in city traffic and at lower speeds, so eventually they would also rather not want to carry a few extra ounces in airbags and seatbelts, or would also think just a lap-belt is enought for them, if they could choose that way at a lower price. Nowadays with the advances in structures and "surveillance cells", an interior trim designed to absorb impacts and minimize the risk of injuries at some extent, in a similar way to what is applied to American school buses, wouldn't be so much expensive to implement, and can lead airbags to become somehow redundant enought to be deemed unnecessary.
I guess many of the folks here is not just obsessed about fuel-economy, but also other aspects such as recyclability of components at the end of its useful life, and airbags require some chemicals to be used for their deployment, which final destination after their expiration is, at least for me, uncertain. Also, if roadworth inspections would be really that strict, I guess it would lead vehicles otherwise in a decent shape to be scrapped just because it could be deemed not economically-viable to replace their airbags due to their overall low resale value.
Anyway, I still feel safer in a vehicle fitted only with ABS brakes and 3-point seatbelts than in another fitted only with airbags and 3-point seatbelts.
|