Date:         Thu, 28 Nov 1996 13:02:21 PDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         VWNUT@smus.bc.ca
Subject:      Re: Air bags & VWs

> In a message dated 96-11-27 23:41:57 EST, VWnut@smus.bc.ca writes:
> 
> << 
>  Did anyone hear about an incident in Idaho where a one year was 
>  killed by the air bag in the passenger seat of a new Jetta?
>  
>  A very tragic story, made even more maddening because airbags were 
>  legislated into place with seemingly little research into their 
>  overall effect on safety. And no doubt, auto makers like VW will pay 
>  the price in bad press and law suits, not unlike Audi did ten years 
>  ago. Just one more sad example where politicians mess with things and 
>  everyone else pays.... >>
> 
> Let's not blame the politicians or the auto makers completely.  We must first
> ask why a small child was sitting in the front seat to begin with?  Even
> withiut air bags, children should not sit up front.  Many states even have
> laws restricting children to the back seat.  A one year old should be in a
> safety seat mounted in the center of the rear seat.  This is the safest place
> to be.  In this location, accident would have to extremeley bad for child to
> get hurt.  Think about it.
> 
I agree, which is why my subsequent post made comparisons to the Audi 
fiasco, because a consumer can be TOTALLY or partially to blame, and 
still sue the automaker. Note that the news report made NO mention of 
how stupid the driver was to have an infant in the front seat, or how 
this practice is generally known to be unsafe, but they made sure the 
listener knew that it was a "brand new VW Jetta", and that this 
horrible monster of a car "decapitated" the infant. (Yes, they used 
that word.) But this is media, and it won't change. All I'm saying is 
it is irrelevant (to the general public) how wrong the driver was.

In the case of air bags, the politicians just got the ball rolling, 
with no regard for consequences. And, yes, VW could maybe supply a 
"safer" airbag, as they apparently do already in Europe, but I 
suspect that this "safer" (I'm only assuming it is) airbag does not 
meet US specs, right? That's the ISSUE in my mind: stupid laws 
enacted by stupid politicians.

Shawn Wright (VWnut@smus.bc.ca)
'88 Westy (336k)
'85 Jetta TD (358k)
'69 Wife
'97 1st child (! :)