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A portable AM radio costs 10 bucks. Should we also mandate that cars come with first aid kit, a flashlight or defibrillator?
by uberman 2y ago
A portable AM radio costs 10 bucks. Should we also mandate that cars come with first aid kit, a flashlight or defibrillator?
- SoftTalker 2y agoI'm guessing not defibillators but many countries require emergency first aid kits, hazard triangle markers/flares, fire extinguishers, spare bulbs, etc. to be carried in the car.
- jessriedel 2y agoI also think the marginal cost of making a FM radio an AM/FM radio is less than $10. Probably more like $1?
- SoftTalker 2y agoYes an AM receiver is extremely simple.
- LeoPanthera 2y agoYou think you're making a joke, but many countries do regulate that cars come with basic safety equipment. France is just one example.
- uberman 2y agoGermany may require a first aid kit but it is not required in France. In either case, that argument is moot. We are talking about the USA.
- ta1243 2y agoIs life not as valuable in the US? Or are there fewer crashes?
- ghaff 2y agoThe typical first aid kit doesn’t have anything that is likely to save someone’s life—and if it did I’m pretty sure the typical person wouldn’t know what to do with it.
- grogenaut 2y agoMost car first aid kits have an emergency/space blanket which would very much save someone's life and require no training. Also plastic bags as occlusive bandages, gauze and triangle bandages for bleeding control which require a 1-4 hour class.
- googledocsftw 2y agoEmergency blanket requires no training but people need to know it exists and how well it can solve the problem of being cold. And also yeah you get soaked in your own condensed sweat.
- ghaff 2y agoIn a car where space and weight aren’t major concerns probably carrying one of those blue tarps is more useful in general. I’ve basically never seen the stuff being listed in a standard first aid kit though. Certainly not the one that came with my car. In winter just want some spare warm clothing too. Reminds me I need to go through the winter kit I carry.
- rightbyte 2y agoIf you don't happen to have a suitable handkerchief a first aid kit might be very useful.
- uberman 2y agoIn the context of the article "congress" is the USA. I'm not sure where you get the notion that I might be suggesting either of those things.
- uni_rule 2y agoWouldn't be a terrible idea.
- Swizec 2y ago> Should we also mandate that cars come with first aid kit Yes actually. Where I’m from cars are required to have a first aid kit and everyone who has a driver’s license needs to do a first aid course. You’ll be at the scene of an accident you witness waaaaaay sooner than the ambulance. This stuff saves lives.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- cassepipe 2y agoThat would not adress at all the point of the comment you are responding to : Even though it costs 10 bucks, there won't be any to buy if no one had use for them and when you may not be able to go the store buy a radio when the emergency happens.
- detaro 2y agoRequiring first aid kits to be carried in cars is a fairly common thing. And for a radio which needs power, is useful while the car is moving, ... it makes quite a bit of sense for it to be built in instead of being a required "you need to buy and carry this on your own" item
- jemmyw 2y agoHaving an AED in every car would be really nice.
- hotspot_one 2y ago> we also mandate that cars come with first aid kit. This is standard in Europe. Yes, we should. Small, light weight, low cost, and "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it". And tire jack/spare tire, and a reflector vest.
- ta1243 2y agoI had a puncture in a hire car a couple of years ago and was distressed to find they no longer bother with spare tyres - at least in the UK. Not sure if this is some money saving escapade, or if it's because most drivers no longer knows how to change a wheel. Instead had to wait hours for a tow truck and a replacement tyre. Vest and first aid kit cost like €15, absolutely should have them - although I'm not convinced the typical "cut finger" first aid kit would be much help. Sure if you knick yourself changing your wheel (which of course you don't do any more), but I wonder what level of injury it's useful for when looking at a typical crash.
- ghaff 2y agoIn the US some cars just have run flats. But the common case is to just have a donut spare even in cars that can theoretically go off-roading. I suppose the logic is a full size spare takes a lot of room and there are a lot of things that can go wrong beyond a flat and people who use their cars off-road will outfit as needed.
- jmb99 2y agoRemoving the spare tire shaves 20-40lbs off the weight of the car. Manufacturers are more strongly incentivized to lower fleet average fuel economy and emissions, which reducing weight does, and more so than they are incentivized to provide adequate safety equipment like a spare tire. So, you get a can of goo and an air compressor.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]