https://www.ntsb.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/NR20220920.aspx
I am all for making cars safer but some of the spying technology and remote kill switches scares me. This is just a way to gather more information in the name of safety. Also, I understand these systems need regular calibration which requires an appointment and a fee once a month or so when mandated for DUI offenders.
11,000 DUI deaths a year… So the government wants me to pay for a breathalyzer on every car I buy…and every other of the 17 million cars sold in the US every year?
And control my speed? Not every accident is avoided by steering and/or braking, some are avoided by accelerating past the problem.
3600 drowning deaths (0.001%) a year. … Shouldn’t every bathing suit have an inflatable airbag to prevent drownings?
7000 pedestrian vs vehicle deaths (0.0021%) every year… Airbag T-shirts and walking helmets for all!
Now what is the government going to do about 250,000+ medical malpractice deaths (0.08%) a year?
Making everyone pay extra for every car to prevent 0.0033% of the population from dying each year in DUI crashes rather than punishing those that drive drunk.
George Orwell did not write fiction…
All of this has gotten to the ridiculous point . They want to play that game then put cellphone jammers in every single car . these have become a much larger problem than DUI . You wonder why people are so ticked off these days , it is this type of intrusion into everyday life .
The reason this sort of stuff affects cars so much I expect, rather than say walking down a public sidewalk, driving a car is not a protected right. So if you need to drive, you have to do what the politicians say.
OK , is this an example of your bad jokes ? Seat belts save lives period . I also know that they prevent serious injury from personal experience . Please remove your post .
The suggestions will likely never be enacted because the system actually works. You tell your elected representatives that you don’t like these ideas and if enough people send similar complaints, they won’t go anywhere. Some people want them, they are organized, and they have lobbied the NTSB to create these potential rules. I suspect that most of the senators and congressmen don’t like them either. Send the an email and just say no.
I will give you that, BUT,
Would your rather have a broken collar bone, or be dead ?
Another way to look at is, if out of 100 car crashes, wearing seat belts helps the occupants 90 times, and hurts the occupants 10 times, is it in your own interest to wear them , or not wear them?
Or is the issue you are debating, not which is better, but whether the gov’t has a right to force you to wear them? i.e. you’d argue it is up to the individual to decide what they want to do to protect their own safety?
well, a mpls cop was chasing a stolen car and he was doing 90mph on a city street. and hit a car and killed the driver. at least the county attorney is going after the stolen car driver. maybe all cars should have had the kill switches triggered?
Ask the guy at the morgue, He’s seeing a lot less deaths.
https://www.cartalk.com/radio/puzzler/metal-helmet-mystery-0
Which amendment is that in?
I seem to remember that the seatbelt laws have been passed in 49 states and is a primary offense in a majority of the 49.
Excuse me for not reading everyone’s comments yet but the first thing I did when I got back into the car at Costco, was to take out my hand sanitizer. Maybe there will be an 800 number to call for false positives.
If you study organizations at all, this is just a natural progression of expansion if not checked. Doesn’t matter if government or private. People always try to expand their rule. In business it’s easier because it has to contribute to the bottom line usually. In government, a whole crew is available to sell the program and funds are unlimited.
Work expands to equal the time allotted is the most important business principle. That’s why I always tried tio keep the number of people and budgets just enough to get by. Then people find ways to streamline their work. A trillion here and a trillion there, what difference does it make, huh?
Carolyn has already removed his posts in this thread, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is given a long time-out.
Can’t entirely disagree; seems to be a move toward more vehicle regulations than common sense would dictate. One of my neighbors told me he got a traffic ticket recently for driving his car without first putting on the seat belts. He was driving from Starbucks to a clothing store, 5 mph, same parking lot. A traffic ticket for that seems a little much.
On the other hand, some regulations that seem over the top are actually pretty good. Recently Calif Supreme Court declared bumble bees are FISH! Yeah, in Calif, bumble bees are now FISH!! I’m not making this up! Turns out there’s an environmental regulation that protects various species including fish, but not bumble bees. So the court decided it is ok to use that regulation to protect certain varieties of bumble bees as a protected species as well. Which imo, while indeed over the top, is a good thing.
I did remove the posts but only because I thought his goal was to stir arguments. I have more faith that the casual reader of a car forum will not be swayed by a couple of internet randos that say seatbelts are bad. Plus, if that single post was so persuasive, what makes that orders of magnitude more convincing than the many other posts disagreeing? 
something to think about.
If only that were true .
I’ve never heard the term “internet rando” until now. Always good for an old geezer like me to learn new stuff … lol …
Well just for the record, there is always someone that can site an instance where they would be harmful. My 59 vw did not have them and in c1968 when I got t boned, I’m not quite sure I would have had hip injuries with a belt. You just cant deny there are circumstances. Still I put belts in my replacement first thing and I always wear them. Dad insisted too. In the garage I put my belt on first and then start the car before I leave the garage. Just saying is all.
~just looked it up. Am also distracted, lately by ACRONYMS , IMHO.
But what type of “more information” other than intoxication? Basically, a whole lot is known about anyone who’s on this forum, albeit superficially, by tracking mechanisms within the net. We bought a couch 10 years ago, and suddenly couch images were marching through my searches, for months. At this point, until we can read each other’s minds, I’d let it go. I think your point may have more to do with being told what you need, rather than having the government spying on you.