People are angry at Takata – the company that apparently sold defective air bags to various car companies, including Honda and Toyota. But they ought to be angrier at the people who forced them to buy air bags in the first place – and who will never be sued, much less jailed, for the harm to people and property they cause.
Here’s a little history lesson/rant about these explosive devices the government puts in our faces, threatening us with injury and even death every time we go for a drive:
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They also tried interlocks on the seatbelt that would prevent the car from starting if the belt(s) weren’t fastened. Had a rental car many years ago with this benighted feature and it was always effing up; we found the best way to start the car was to fasten the belt without being in it and then reach through the window to turn the key – worked every time, LOL! But just imagine your daughter late at night in the rain in a dark parking lot having to deal with this, good thing it was only a rental, though things have only gone downhill from that point; we’re in a hole and the gunverment insists we keep digging.
This is an interesting way to do a podcast. Usually when I listen to a podcast I’m driving and the podcaster is in an office or at home. Eric Peters’ podcast is exactly the opposite!
Before there were airbags, there were “automatic” seat belt systems. I think at one time manufacturers could do either one. Don’t know if that’s an option today or not. I had two cars with automatic belts, one motorized and one built into the door. Kind of annoying, but at least if they failed you wouldn’t end up with lacerations on your face.
OT: You’re listening to HLN?
Hi Eric,
I thought it might be fun to do a monologue while driving a new car, which lets me do a little “live” presenting about the car as well as the rant about whatever the subject at hand happens to be. I’ve got another coming soon!
Dear Eric,
Ya know, that might just be a stroke of genius.
Who knows, something spontaneous like that, something real, might really take off.
Do it!
Most of those “automatic” seatbelts (at least the ones I saw), never actually clicked the belt closed. So it would run on its track, but you still weren’t belted in. So completely pointless, useless and stupid. I hated those stupid tracks as it would sometime make the belt snag my ear as it went by. Glad I never owned a car with one.
Yeah, I always hated the whole idea of automatic belts, even though I never owned a car that had them. I figured it was one more thing to screw up. The ones I remember were shoulder belts only, you were still expected to click your own lap belt.
I actually welcomed the air bags when the 1st came out, as I figured they would be better than ‘auto-belts’ and less likely to fail. Guess I was wrong, huh?
Off Topic – Hey Eric, I noticed the V1 in your Vidcast. Don’t you get harassed by the “Heroes” in the state of VA with that? I remember signs when I used to visit an old college buddy in Centreville. Just wondering.
Don K
Hi Don,
Not so far… I think the fact that radar detectors are illegal in VA actually works to my advantage; cops assume most people don’t have detectors and so they’re sloppier about using their radar (less “instant on,” etc.) and many departments do not have “detector detectors.”
Thanks, Eric, that’s good to know.
“detector detectors” huh? Guess that’s why MV put the V1 in a metal case, to minimize leakage 🙂
Don K
EP Autos gold: Parenting adults.
Accountability? We don’t have no stink’n accountability –
Less than a week after ’fessing up that it found some 2,500 documents potentially showing that the IRS shared taxpayer returns with the White House, the Obama administration has reversed course and won’t release the trove to a group suing for access.
In an abrupt decision, the Treasury inspector general’s office said that the documents are covered by privacy and disclosure laws and can’t be provided to Cause of Action, despite a promise…
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feds-balk-at-releasing-docs-showing-irs-sharing-tax-returns-with-white-house/article/2556890