On Fri, 07 Apr 2006 14:59:40 GMT, Kurt Ullman wrote:
> Actually the RATES never climbed, in fact they have continued to go
> down slightly if you look at the information from the Highway Safety
> Administration. The rates are based on deaths per million miles driven
> and they are on a downturn.
Death rates significantly climbed, accident rates did not. As car were
allowed to reach 75 and over without set belts and the advent of the US
Interstate system in full bloom, the accident-to-death ratios skyrocketed.
Even today, crash fatalities are the leading killer of infants to mid 30
year olds.
An even more telling statistic is the number of years lost pitted against
the number of years an average person lives.
> Everybody points to the Oil Embargo Days of the 70s, reduction in
> speeds and fall in absolute number of deaths. However, this is actually
> a rather stunning proof that "correlation is not causation". While the
> number of deaths went down, the number of miles driven decreased even
> more (related to gas prices and availability). The deaths per million
> miles driven stayed roughly the same.
Yes, and if you look at the implementation of seat belts, I had to *buy* my
first set of 3 point belts in 1971. They were a mess, the shoulder belt
hung on clips above the window, they had to be inserted into the lap belt,
then snapped into the buckle, then adjusted to fit across the boobies.
Having rather large ones being twin-breasted as I am, there also was no
adjustment vertically of the column as in todays' cars. Comment: They were
uncomfortable as hell.
> The stats are all on the Highway Safety Administration's website
> and they might be in the Statistical Abstract of the US (also available
> on the web or in a library reference area near you).
> Airbags are another rather interesting thing. If you look at the
> Congressional testimony, they were originally touted and mandated as an
> added safety measure to keep safe those who REFUSED to wear their
> seatbelts. Ooops.
Yeppers, another law passed to assist those who were too dumb to buckle up.
And another set of weight for the cars.
> Seatbelt laws, on the other hand were largely put in at the request
> of automakers. The original deal was that if a certain number of states
> enacted mandatory seatbelt laws, then automakers could put off mandatory
> airbags. The most interesting, thing is that by the time the cutoff for
> getting airbags installed came around, the marketplace had already
> spoken and they were available as standard equipment on most cars. Go
> figger.
It became, like smoking, evidence irrefutable.
Btw, African-Americans and non-African-African-Americans bitched that they
were being targeted by the seat belt laws as they claimed they were pulled
over more frequently and that this was the excuse.
Huh?
Well, gollee gee, next time you knock off the neighborhood 7-11, buckle up
st00pid. LOL
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