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As someone who trained as a mechanical engineer and worked in the auto parts industry for a number of years I find this discussion rather amusing at times. The intersection of marketing and regulation has made for some great stories over the years. My favorite is the ignition seat belt interlock saga. Feds wanted a fleet of cars to test the effectiveness of having the seat belt locked before the ignition would engage. The car company sent the fleet to a government car pool. Nobody liked it and no surprise the proposed regulation was dropped. Sound regulations establish fitness for use and are to apply equally to all producers. Trouble comes when someone wants to gain an advantage at the expense of others. Disinformation becomes the method of persuasion whether it is food, medicine, cars, fire arms, or any other consumer product. The difficulty you and I may have is it not easy to determine the actual quality of a product before buying it.
The cost of a product and the selling price are somewhat linked. The gross margin in many industries is 35%. Cars such as the early Corvair and Pinto would not have had the problems they did if the required $100 parts had been included. In the case of the Corvair suspension it was a rear sway bar. In the case of the Pinto it was a plastic gas tank shield. Neither part is very heavy or very expensive but competitive price thinking put profits ahead of quality. For those knowledgeable people here on Ecomodder it is quite possible to build a safe and durable vehicle that gets twice the current fuel economy as a production model. Laws and standards can change with technological improvements if we are thoughtful and persistent in our efforts. Pennsylvania repealed the motorcycle helmet law. New York needs to update its motorized bicycle laws and repeal some gun laws. Pay attention to the vehicle crash test videos and the SAE articles. If you don't like air bags then disconnect them in favor of a five point harness and a helmet. Just don't be stupid and assume you will never crash.
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