Date:         Thu, 17 Sep 1998 10:49:09 -0700
Reply-To:     YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject:      (long)Re: If You're Against Mandatory Daytime Running Lights...
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM, cdes@WELCHLINK.WELCH.JHU.EDU
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

>>> Sudhir Desai <cdes@WELCHLINK.WELCH.JHU.EDU> 09/17 10:25 AM >>>

IMHO, drl's are the worst safety feature anyone has come up with...
some examples of this fact.
>>>

Ok..you can't blame the US Gov for this one.. the people pushing for DRL is the insurance industry... and since the insurance industry works strictly by statistics and risk tables, it is the larger community of drivers and road users that counts.. one or two incidents is annedotal.. and does not count..   Remember the high center stop light of a few years ago?  They put it on New York taxis for a few years to gather the statistics and then pushed it to the general population.. the insurance industry has a very strong lobby and they never lose when it comes to pushing a law or regulation through our legislators.. state or federal.  In the case of DRL, the insurance lobby only have to look at Canada and Sweden for statistic.. and like it or not, the statistics is on their side.  

I guess the DRL thing will be received with a lot of moans and groans initially ..not unlike the seat belt law. In fact, when wind shield wipers were first made mandatory, they were oppose with equal vigor.. then came front wind sheild washer requirement (thanks to Ralph Nader)  etc.. but now can you imagine buying a car with out them?  The only _mandatory_ equipment I don't understand is the dimmer switch for the dash board lighting.. who thought of that one..oh..heck..we'll just pin it on Ralph.  

Yau-Man Chan
87 GL
No DRL but drives with headights on anyway..