I recently began shopping for a new automobile. Mind you, I haven't actively done that since 1995. I must say that it was an educational endeavor because I had no idea that the Government had mandated that all passenger cars built since 1998 and all trucks and SUV's since 1999 must be equipped with airbags for the front passengers.
Yeah, I've seen all the ads touting this airbag and that airbag but I guess I had always assumed there were an OPTION, not a MANDATE! You see, I have never been a fan of the airbag. I always felt that the automobile industry saw a big cashcow in foisting airbags on the consumer. You get in a fender-bender with just seatbelts and you can continue to drive your vehicle safely. You get in a fender-bender with an airbag and you've got a $900 airbag to replace before you can legally drive your vehicle. And who benefits from that arrangement? The automobile industry benefits.
I have been in car accidents and despite the injuries that I sustained, in not one instance would an airbag have prevented or decreased my injuries. So where's the big benefit to me, the driver? Airbags were a sham that the automobile industry convinced the government that we couldn't live without and the government decided to force us all to have them. I read the regulations tonight - YOU HAVE NO SAY IN THE MATTER!
Didn't I hear the other day that the FDA was pulling some pain reliever off the market because a few people died from taking it? People die from airbag deployment, so why hasn't the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pulled airbags from the market?
Instead, the NHTSA has allowed drivers to request a waiver from them to get permission to install an on/off switch for the airbags. You have to prove to the NHTSA that you have a special reason to not have an airbag. Well, I got news for the NHTSA - when I purchase my new automobile, I will be disconnecting the airbag the moment I get home. The seat belts will be more than adequate to protect my family and me from harm. And I won't ask their permission.
You see, airbags not only kill people of small stature and children, they also cripple people of normal stature (http://airbagonoff.com/rbarticle.htm). I certainly don't want to become a quadriplegic because some know-nothing bureaucrat in Washington decided that airbags were a universally great thing. Something else I've noticed since the proliferation of these devices: people that have them aren't inclined to drive defensively. Why should they? They've been told their freakin' invincible because they have airbags. So I'll bet that my personal observation would be backed up with some statistic that proves that traffic accidents have increased noticeably since the introduction of airbags. I will find it. I know it's out there.
What can we do about this travesty? We can do something. First and foremost, we could boycott buying a new car. The automobile industry hit us in our pocketbook and we should do the same. I intend to write to the manufacturer of the automobile I have been shopping for and let them know that if their vehicle didn't have an airbag, I'd buy one tomorrow.
But more likely, since we aren't likely to get enough support for a boycott, we could visit http://www.motorists.org/issues/airbags/NHTSA_Denies_AB_Comments.html and pony up to support them in their crusade against this stupid and dangerous mandate (I hate it when the government feels obligated to protect me from myself!) The National Motorist Association details some of their on-going efforts to get this deadly mandate repealed.
Do it today - before your airbag prevents you from being able to do so.
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