[geeks] Mac definitions

[Phil Stracchino]

On 07/15/11 01:33, Andrew Jones wrote:
> On 07/14/2011 11:56 PM, Sandwich Maker wrote:
>>
>> people are far more likely to not wear belts b/c 'the airbags will
>> protect' them
>>
> 
> Air bags were originally designed and sold as an alternative to seat belts.

Well ....  no.

Actually, the airbag was originally intended to be a *supplement* to a
seat belt, to reduce the likelihood of serious injury to a belted
occupant in head-on collisions, which were frequently very high-energy.
 That was up until the NHTSA heard about them and, in their infinite
government-style wisdom, got the idea, "Hey, if we make these things
*more powerful*, they'll protect even unbelted drivers."

Ummmmm.....   No.  They won't.  What they'll do is injure, and even
kill, people who are too close to the airbag when it deploys.

The "new, smart, lower-energy" airbags merely return the energy level of
the bags down into the range they were originally designed for in the
first place.


You know my position on the subject?  If after all this time, there are
people too lazy to wear a seatbelt or so stupid they think the seat belt
will kill them by trapping them in the car, let them drive without.
Think of it as evolution in action.

Unfortunately, far too many of our social policies are actively breeding
the human race for stupidity.  It's a kind of reverse-eugenics program.


-- 
  Phil Stracchino, CDK#2     DoD#299792458     ICBM: 43.5607, -71.355
  alaric at caerllewys.net   alaric at metrocast.net   phil at co.ordinate.org
  Renaissance Man, Unix ronin, Perl hacker, SQL wrangler, Free Stater
                 It's not the years, it's the mileage.