Posted on 11/28/2013 1:29:39 PM PST by Olog-hai
In Mexico’s booming auto industry, the cars rolling off assembly lines may look identical, but how safe they are depends on where they’re headed.
Vehicles destined to stay in Mexico or go south to the rest of Latin America carry a code signifying there’s no need for antilock braking systems, electronic stability control, or more than two air bags, if any, in its basic models.
If the cars will be exported to the United States or Europe, however, they must meet stringent safety laws, including as many as six to ten air bags, and stability controls that compensate for slippery roads and other road dangers, say engineers who have worked in Mexico-based auto factories.
Because the price of the two versions of the cars is about the same, the dual system buttresses the bottom lines of automakers such as General Motors and Nissan. But it’s being blamed for a surge in auto-related fatalities in Mexico, where laws require virtually no safety protections. …
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
Airbags prevent accidents just like condoms prevent loss of virginity.... (hmmm, that can’t be correct...?)
So I'm impressed when guys tackle these things...and my hat's off to you and my friend.
Then there were the tube tires. I can hardly imagine that.
What p****** me off is that if you’re in an accident the first question they ask is....Did you have your seatbelt on...instead of....are you okay.
With the new generation of tattling black boxes that might not even need to be asked. They’d just download the data with a smile.
But yes, this reflects an imperious attitude. It is callousness, one of the signs of degradation in humanity. (Some people think the attitudinal nasties at the end of Romans 1:21ff have to do with the previously mentioned homos. NO they don’t have to be. They stand alone quite well.)
I would love to find a Yugo more or less intact. Tube frame about 110” wheelbase, stretch the front fenders, big block, blower, narrowed 9”.... Sweet!
I would love to hear the guys trying to explain to their buddies how they got beat by a Yugo.
I don’t think the author has ever driven in Mexico City. If you ever get a chance, take a taxi ride. It’s a lot like a 2 bit shady carnival roller coaster, except a lot more scary.
That’s what I was thinking—is it actually “unsafe” or is it just missing the required Federal safety standard equipment?
“Oh the humanity. If my first car, a 1974 Chevy that I put 180,000 miles on driving to every corner of the 11 Western states in my teens and twenties hadn’t had “antilock braking systems, electronic stability control, or more than two air bags” I wouldn’t be alive today to tell ...oh wait. Never mind.”
I’ve wondered about this too. And I drove a car even older, with NO SIDE BEAMS in the doors, and I am somehow alive today. Of course, in those days, people took driving seriously, watched the road, and so on.
“That’s what I was thinking—is it actually “unsafe” or is it just missing the required Federal safety standard equipment?”
This is roughly equivalent to having “substandard” insurance.
If you were not so bent on being supercilious you would explain if it changed from no to yes, or from yes to no. The anecdote you shared is not clear as a reference point. You were badgered to wear them... did you agree anyhow? Or did you disagree anyhow?
Anyhow yes they help in severe maneuvers too. That’s why race car drivers wear these harnesses, it isn’t just to keep from flying out of the car in case of wreck. Take it from the Real Men: safety belts make sense.
“Seat belts are usually a smart idea, and probably would have gotten popular on their own if the legal beagles hadn’t thought to be imperious about them. Gain something like an extra insurance coverage or lowered deductible during a crash if you had belts on, and most people would put the belts on.”
One of the only good things I can say about Illinois, is that they had the concept of “contributory negligence” built into the law - that is, if you got into an accident that was not your fault, you could sue for actual damages, but not a nickel for pain/suffering if you weren’t wearing a seat belt. So, it’s a free country. Don’t want to wear a seat belt? Fine. But if you get hurt, sucks to be you.
It “drives” me crazy that the state that I live in, with some of the most unsafe roads in the country, ALSO has one of the lowest rates of compliance on seat belts.
My present car, that I bought new in 1997, has the airbags but none of the rest of it. Sixteen years later it’s still soldiering on without any major issues.
Well, maybe it wasn’t because of your attitude that you forgot to make it clear. But proud attitudes do make people tend to forget stuff. It even happens to me.
If the redneck part of Illinois could divorce itself from Chicago, it would be in great shape.
These cars sound as safe as the ones I grew up riding in...
I owned a ‘75 LTD, tons of metal on wheels, and it was a lot safer than several newer little cars I crushed with it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.