[Flakbadger]

See here's the problem I have with the premise of this entire thread.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

"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."

YOU feel safer. What about other people? What about the automakers, who have to cover themselves for liability reasons and need their cars to be as safe as possible? Let's not forget the fact that I can't even name a car (in the US at least) that doesn't have ABS AND 3-point seatbelts AND airbags.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

"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"

This ignores the possibility of drunk/impaired or elderly (I have seen this happen) drivers who run a stoplight at 45 miles per hour. In this scenario, the static capabilities of the car to absorb impact and protect its occupants is the most important aspect of the vehicle. Not whether it has ABS or not.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr;

"in a similar way to what is applied to American school buses"

You realize that a bus weighs 18 times what a car does, right? So the sheer inertia of that vehicle will carry whatever it hits along with it--IE mitigating its own change in inertia. Not to mention that school bus drivers are paid professionals, not distracted teenagers or people who are texting while driving, or drinking while driving.

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

"I guess many of the folks here is not just obsessed about fuel-economy"

This is largely a forum of people who own cars. There are some who own motorcycles/scooters, and at least one who doesn't even own a car but feels they need to add to the discussions anyway... Point being, the vast majority of users here are looking for ways to improve their existing vehicles' MPG, which--as aforementioned--are usually cars.

This can be through aerodynamics or weight reduction, but for the most part not through the reduction of a few pounds by eliminating ABS systems and shoulder restraints and crumple zones and airbags. Even those users who remove their mirrors for better MPG still usually replace them with smaller interior ones.

Thinking that removing all safety equipment is a viable way to reduce the weight of a vehicle is overlooking a huge number of reasons as to why they're implemented in the first place.