Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Irish mist
The Nanny-State arrives.
|
Italy's answer to mandatory seatbelt laws was a popular T-shirt with a seatbelt pictured on it, already buckled!
The
U.S. Nanny-State attempted an arrival in 1972.
If you bought a new car in 1972, it came with a little buzzer. When the seat was occupied
and the seatbelt wasn't buckled, the buzzer would buzz.
Though it was a simple device to bypass, dealers wouldn't disconnect the buzzer for you. Most people objecting to the Nanny-State Buzzer just buckled all the seatbelts before getting in, then sat on them.
The negative reaction to such an intrusion lead to the addition of "passive" restraints instead—which proved fatal to hundreds of unbelted children and small adults nationwide. As bad as that was, airbags have added thousands of dollars to the price of every vehicle, and to every insured vehicle with an airbag deployment. All insured drivers "share" in that expense.
"Hope is on the way" in 2010, when automatic active vehicle controls will be mandated for all new cars.
(Passed Congress this month).
"Rollover airbags" for SUVs will follow:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news0...rollovers.html
Seems The Buzzer wasn't so bad.
