3 ms·
> Forget the fancy safety features. The humble belt is more important than all of them put together. Totally agree with the second sentence, but disagree with
by tempestn 11y ago
> Forget the fancy safety features. The humble belt is more important than all of them put together.
Totally agree with the second sentence, but disagree with the first. It's not like these features are just thrown in for fun; there is research and testing behind them, and they do save lives.
It's like that oft-misquoted statistic that you lose 50% of your body heat through your head. In reality that's only true if you cover the rest of your body with clothes, but leave your head bare. Obviously wearing clothes is going to keep you warmer than wearing a hat. But, if it's cold out, it does make sense to put a hat on too.
- zamalek 11y ago> It's not like these features are just thrown in for fun; there is research and testing behind them, and they do save lives. Exactly, but some of them are designed to be paired with a seat belt - I've heard that airbags can make things worse if you don't buckle up.
- dsfyu404ed 11y agoThe NHTSA has a few videos showing exactly this.
- sandworm101 11y agoMany of those features, particularly the early airbags, markedly improve safety only where the seatbealt isn't used. That was and still is a norm in the US, but in places like Europe or Canada where seatbelt use is near universal, the advantage is minimal. The costs (1000s) are not minimal. So some would say that removing the airbags and spending that money on other things (ie crash prevention) might be the more efficient approach to safety.
- lunchTime42 11y agoIt gets really interesting with cars that have no crumble zone - like the Smart. They managed to build that little devil in a way, that the motor gets partially shoved beneath the floor of the car..