I am starting to get tired of well intentioned people jamming safety stuff at me. In the USA, there is talk of making stability control mandatory for all new vehicles sold here.



Driving is a SKILL, yes? So why are we making it easier for morons to drive. If you can't control your vehicle, I don't want you on the road. I suggest removing ALL safety equipment from cars, and putting a big sharp spike in the middle of the steering wheel, aimed at the driver.

I bet that would have a much greater effect on driver safety than high mount brake lights, ABS and the like.

Thats a pretty intense view Matt. I would be interested to see your view on speed cameras ha ha

haha...good idea. remember the lame 'warnings' people used to put in their windows? "baby on board", "senior citizen driver", etc ...as if that changes the rules of how safe people are going to drive when near them. I'd think the opposite philosophy would work much better: "light sensitive, near-sighted, prone to seizure, narcoleptic, crack addict on board."

I know I'D change my driving habits around such an anouncement...hell, I'd pull over and wait until they are into the next town.

in the spirit of the thread...I never understood the obsession with helmits. I saw a 4 yearold riding a plastic electric toy-car that went about 1.5 miles an hour... he was going less than walking speed. The parents donned their little top gun with a helmit that was so big, it prevented his head from moving freely within the dome of his 'D' battery operated plasti-pod racer.

My software professor in college used to say: "If you try to make software 'idiot proof', then only idiots will find it useful."

Well of course there are many people who feel that adding more safety features to cars will cause people to drive more recklessly. That's a major argument against Dynamic Stability Control. However, there was the same argument when seatbelts were made mandatory. Well guess what? Now they save thousands of lives per year.
Also, it's not in talks, Dynamic Stability Control WILL be mandatory for all cars after 2010....or 12, can't remember.

At the age of 5 or so, everyone should be issued a gun. If you make it to adulthood, congratulations!
If not, be comforted by the fact that your sacrifice made the world a better place.

I agree Matt. I can't count how many times I try to light my BBQ pit with even a lighter and I can't work the blasted thing because of the child safety button. What happened to making sure it's out of the kid's reach? People are driving faster now than they did back in the 60's (was that about the time seat belts were manditory?). I won't argue with them. In fact, it's the law here the if you are on public roads, you have to have them on no matter how fast or slow you're going. I think the fine is somewhere around $300 for your first offense. Not real sure though. Some safety I understand but there are times I think common sense is being bred out of people.

Casey

I was just reading some of the posts to my husband and he brought up a good point. Why is it the the school bus driver has to wear a seat belt but the kids on the bus don't? Doesn't make sense. Some of these kids just got out of their booster seat in mom and dad's car and now they ride around on the bus sometimes twice a day and no seat belts. Something's wrong here.

On the other hand I remember back in the 80's when kids in the back seat didn't need to be in a seat belt. We had a Delta 88 that I would lay in the back dash and wave to the people behind me. My dad would slam on the brakes and I'd roll off and sometimes land on the seat and sometimes landed on the transmission hump in the back floorboard. Great times! Kids these days have no idea what they are missing. Also, my dad told me a story of his childhood. They had a 1950 Bel Aire. My dad was standing up in the front seat (he was about 2) and my grandfather told him several times to sit down. He didn't listen so he slammed on the brakes. My dad smacks his head on the dash (solid metal at the time) and had Bel Aire written backwards on his forehead for several years. He still has a small scar and he's 53!

Casey