Quote:
Originally Posted by erps
just an observation. I watched a documentary on road safety and actually one theory that was proving out was that the less safety features a road had, the more careful the drivers drove on them. Wanna safe a life? Pull out the stop signs and speed limit signs?
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Tis true to some degree.
Same type of studies showed that Dope smokers actually drove their cars safer...no kidding! It was because of how stoned (and paranoid) they were!
There is definitely an effect of the type you mention.
However, that is more of a localized effect. You can measure it, but over the course of 300 million people it does not turn into a fact. It's just that a certain amount of education and experience is needed to turn the new safety features into second nature.
When people feel too safe, some are likely to try dangerous things...witness the way some fools drive in rain and snow - with the attitude that since the car makes them feel safe (until something happens), they are going to ignore the laws of physics.
In my sons case, that is exactly what he did. It was the first light coating of rain which turned to ice in late october and he was coming home from school and rounding a turn - ran right off the road into a telephone pole. Such a crash would normally main or kill, but he walked away and called up. We went to the hospital and he was OK.
We should all thank Nader each day. There is no single person who is as much responsible for our automobile safety.
Of course, for his efforts he had GM mounting incredible attacks against him.
"GM President James Roche was forced to appear before a United States Senate subcommittee, and to apologize to Nader for the company's campaign of harassment and intimidation. Nader later successfully sued GM for excessive invasion of privacy. It was the money from this case that allowed him to lobby for consumer rights, leading to the creation the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act, among other things."
That is the kind of hero we need more of in America (and the world).