quote:Originally posted by Rick:
Mike, have you had a bad experience with air-bags (aka whoopee cushions), or do you have a general distrust of something waiting to blow up in your face?
The latter, Rick! I cannot see what use they are, as if you are using your safety belts (a legal requirement here) air-bags are not needed.
Maybe the cynic in me says that one of the design team meetings went something like:
DT wallah 1 "What can we persuade the public tha they must have on our cars - we have exhausted most of the safety stuff now?"
DT wallah 2 "It will have to be something that is a legal requirement, as well"
DT wallah 3 "Also, it must be unavailable in the aftermarket, and expensive"
DT director "Hmmm....we've already done catastrophic converters - how about air bags?"
quote:What do you have against ABS?
A few things - generally, like other gizmos, they lull the user into a false security so they are not as attentive as they should be.
They reduce braking power.
Any extra complications in a braking system with potential failures are a bad thing
The wheel sensors are in prone to failure and are unnecessarily expensive (a coil with a bit of cable on it)
Primary safety - prevention, not cure - would save more lives.