Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2002 13:18:35 -0400
From: Joe Elliott <jee@domain.elided>
Subject: re: those HORRID automobile safety rules.
Hmm, seems to me that most European manufacturers did away with most
of those concerns before the U.S. government lifted a finger.
Additionally, American cars from the '70s and '80s are still
deathtraps, arbitrary regulations about 5mph bumpers and soft
dashboards didn't do anything about that. A safe car is absolutely
f***ing useless if it's only equipped with 2-point seatbelts in the
rear. I didn't see the US government doing jackball about that until
1990, well after every imported car had 3-point belts. Even today
our "stringent" crash test doesn't have a thing to do with the safety
of the rear occupants. Don't even get me started on ineffective
lighting. US headlight regulations have already cost me $1500+. If
I was a lawyer with lots of free time you can be damn sure I'd find
every accident out there that can be attributed to poor lighting
and/or unnecessary glare from sealed beam headlights (as well as the
post-'86 horseshit) and have one hell of lawsuit against the USDOT.
And let's not forget that in 1996 the USA mandated dual airbags in
every car sold here, when manufacturers such as Volvo knew damn well
that existing passenger airbags did more harm than good. And one of
the reasons older airbags are so dangerous is because the USA
required that they restrain an unbelted 200lb asshole (err, human
being). So those of us that wear our seatbelts get thanked by having
our faces torn off by pre-'97 airbags in minor fender benders. And
to be honest, I'd rather have a world of carbureted, non-catalysed
Fiat 500s stinking up the air (which can clean itself up) and getting
50mpg than a bunch of clean-burning 7.0L American cars whose exhaust
I can breath while they deplete our planet's oil supply (which cannot
be replenished) at 9mpg.
It seems to me that automakers can still "sell whatever unsafe junk
to the public that [makes] them the most money"--as long as they can
call it a "light truck." The only difference is that these "light
trucks" place everyone on the road at risk while a Euro-spec MGB is
only a risk to those who choose to ride in it. I think Americans
should have the right to take all the unsafe purchases they want, as
long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Unfortunately, the people
making the laws in this country seem to hold the opposite opinion.
While an American passenger car from 1982 was held to all the same BS
as my GTV6, such vehicles still exude an aura of death while the GTV6
feels relatively safe for reasons that have nothing to do with US
regulation. Of course, I can't see where I'm going, but that's okay
because because the GTV6 will escape unscathed when I back into
somebody's door in a parking lot at up to 5mph. It also weighs more
thanks to "intrusion beams" in the door that don't interface with the
frame at all and are consequently just dead weight.
The bottom line is that no amount of amateur regulation has ever, or
will ever, make cars safe. Manufacturers that give a damn what they
build, and consumers who give some consideration to what they buy
(i.e. Adam Smith's invisible hand) are what make cars safer than
those that preceded them. American regulations only made the world's
worst cars marginally safer, which is meaningless as far as I'm
concerned, because the people who bought them didn't want a safe car
in the first place so it's been a huge waste of money.
Joe Elliott