ABS, Airbags = False Sense of Security?

[Variance]

ABS, Airbags = False Sense of Security?

A Purdue University research team that studied five years of motor vehicle accidents in Washington State concludes antilock brakes and airbags don't minimize accidents or injuries because those systems may encourage more aggressive driving.

Fred Mannering, a Purdue professor of civil engineering, led the study. The results, which are bound to be controversial with auto makers and safety experts, say the innovations designed to improve safety also make drivers less vigilant.

Read "Researchers Question Safety Contribution of Airbags, ABS" @ Ward's Auto

[Robert Hall]

Technology is no cure for stupidity. Reckless drivers will always be that way.

[Guest YellowJacket894]

Technology is no cure for stupidity. Reckless drivers will always be that way.

[Justin Bimmer]

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) is a great help in disabling stupidity..... In europe, where most new cars have it, avoidable accidents have decreased greatly. Maybe thats why the US Government has made it a law to make it standard.

[balthazar]

I have thought the same thing for some time (via observation): easier, better driving, quicker cars primarily allow less-skilled drivers to further exceed their abilities.

[FAPTurbo]

Look at AWD... a lot of people assume they can just breeze through the snow and ice with these systems, and many end up in a ditch or a mailbox.

[zhawk]

And this is why towing companies love 4 wheel drive vehicle in the winter. That's where most of their business is, the people who can't figure out that just because 4WD will get them started it won't necessarlily help them stop.

We have plenty of stupid people out on the road. And more getting their licenses everyday.

I am just ashamed that they used Washington State for this study.

[CSpec]

This is basic logic; we did it in the first week of micro last year. Everyone would agree that as you make cars more dangerous, people would drive more carefully. If you had brakes made out of chewing gum and the steering had a predisposition to not working, you would think twice about even going anywhere, let alone driving fast and/or recklessly. Therefore, you can make a graph that shows driver care going up as car safety goes down (it's just a line). What most people don't think about is going the other way. As you make safety go up, driver care will go down. It's the same graph, just going the other direction.

[aaaantoine]

I agree with you to an extent, CSpec, but even after seeing the crash tests I will still drive a Chevy Venture at 70mph in a 55. My driving habits don't change much from car to car, I guess.

[Cory Wolfe]

Well, after seeing the crash tests for our old Blazer... I'm not sure I drove it anymore.

[Justin Bimmer]

another thing i love is people with 4X4s that get stuck cause both of the wheels on one side are slipping and they dont have a limited slip..... but it has four wheel drive....

[Intrepidation]

Around here these morons can't even use their f@#king blinkers!

Edited October 28, 2006 by Dodgefan

[FAPTurbo]

Around he these morons can't even use their f@#king blinkers!

209578[/snapback]

Do vehicles' signal lights come standard in your Country?

It seems like in my parts, they are an option... that no one ticks off...

[Robert Hall]

Do vehicles' signal lights come standard in your Country?

It seems like in my parts, they are an option... that no one ticks off...

209636[/snapback]

You serious? I thought turn signals were standard everywhere...

[Robert Hall]

Around he these morons can't even use their f@#king blinkers!

209578[/snapback]

And the assclowns that don't wipe the snow off their cars..driving around with the windows covered with snow..

[Drew Dowdell]

Look at AWD... a lot of people assume they can just breeze through the snow and ice with these systems, and many end up in a ditch or a mailbox.

208505[/snapback]

Something I always try to remind new owners of an AWD car.

"All cars have all wheel stop."

[FAPTurbo]

You serious?  I thought turn signals were standard everywhere...

209765[/snapback]

Should have done an "/saracsm" bit...

However, if your drove around here, you'd be asking a similar question.

[Guest Gearmoe]

All air bags did was allow for an increase in profits for auto manufactureres. Lighter weight materials, less robust designs required and offset to maintain safety, hence the airbag. Look at the heavy solid construction of an older car, thick heavy solid. Some had pipes and such in the doors. Any D-Derby person knows the rule is to fill the drivers door to become a solid mass.

 

The propaganda is so deep it' nearly impossible to find the truth. How many race cars do you see with airbags? Drivers often walk away from 200 mph crashes. If the bag was a true lifesaver every NASCAR would have them. What you see is a solid framework around the driver with a four-point seat belt and a helmet. This would've been a better way to go.

Another reality is cost. Have any of you had a car totalled because the airbags deployed and the cost to replace totalled the car? A car which with a few repairs could've been a safe operating vehicle again, but those bags create the need to do what?, Buy a NEW CAR! How about that! For the most part airbags are a feel-good thing, a liberal left slam-dunk. With new cars now made of paper thin materials they had to do something. All for what? Only a few miles better per gallon over what we had 60 years ago. But the sales job was good and the people were brainwashed. Tests were designed and are done to justify. Today we are seeing injuries from the bags, people driving faster, less attentive, thinking they will be protected. Enjoy your delusions folks, a panecea is a fantasy, and the big boys have sold you all a load of poo.

[Drew Dowdell]

I think part of the reason of the lighter weight cars was due to manufacturers chasing fuel economy.   But even then, airbags were first deployed on the 1974 Oldsmobile Toronado and you don't get much bigger and more solid than a '74 Toronado.  Mercedes caught up 6 years later with the S-Class in 1980, again, a car known for being big and solid.  So the idea that manufacturers put airbags in cars in order to counteract the reductions in weight kinda puts the order of the way things happened the wrong way 'round.  Smaller cars didn't start getting airbags until the very late '80s.

and the airbag in my Honda doesn't give me a sense of security at all... it hasn't been recalled yet, so there is still a chance of getting shrapnel in the face if I were in an accident.

[G. David Felt]

and now we are back to electric auto's that started this industry 100 years ago.

[jcc]

and the airbag in my Honda doesn't give me a sense of security at all... it hasn't been recalled yet, so there is still a chance of getting shrapnel in the face if I were in an accident.

I agree, with all the recalls today, and I can understand why other people are having to make the choice between price and a trusted brand, with the divide now being unclear- previously I thought of Honda and Toyota as a "safe bet", but nowadays I'm not so sure.

Edited December 23, 2014 by jcc

[diprod]

Technology is no cure for stupidity. Reckless drivers will always be that way.

 

I agree with this comment. But airbags are definitely helpful in case of an accident. It is still best that they are present in cars.