nVidia becoming so desperate for sales that it reverts to...

[Joe DeFuria]

If you're so afraid of your seatbelt getting stuck and trapping you in the car, keep a small but sturdy knife in a compartment somewhere. =)

In all seriousness though, I do consider both seat-belts and air-bags to come with their own risks of use. I have decided that the potential benefits outweigh the risks, so I always use them, and advocate their use.

I just believe that the evaluation is a personal one to make, and I shouldn't be forced one way or the other.

 

[Fred]

The horror story about airbags is of course when theres an infant in the passenger seat.

Im sure we all saw the CNN story about the decapitated child when the car hit a wall at 5 mph and the airbags responded. It led to proposition for laws in some state that actually required the child to be placed in the backseat when there was an airbag present in the front seat.

I agree with Joe though. Wearing or not wearing a seatbelt probably statistically (throughout all of the US) probably has vanishingly small contribution to OTHER persons injury. It probably improves your chance for life by a much larger margin. Though again, think about it. Your chances to get in an accident per trip is what 1 in 1,000,000 or so. Of those accidents, how many fatal/serious injury ones would be relieved by wearing a seatbelt.

Factor that in, and your chances for life per trip are improved by wearing seatbelts by something like .0000001%

 

[Colourless]

Funny thing about Airbags. The Airbags used in American cars are different to those installed in cars in countries where you must wear a seat belt. The US Airbags need to be able to handle a person not wearing a seat belt, so they need to come out faster. So, reports about Airbags killing people in the US may not apply to other coutires.

 

[Sage]

I'm not talking about getting stuck in your car and not able to get out. I know one guy who's car flipped then was hit by another car and his head and neck would have been crushed had he not been thrown out of the car. Another is if the seatbelt does not fit you properly it can snap your neck. There are real situations where not wearing a seatbelt can save your life. It's very rare and I feel that the chances of it saving my life far outweigh the chances of it being the cause of my death, but I feel that, when wearing it could also endanger me, I have the right to chose.

 

[Bambers]

That being said, Texas now has a law that limits the number of people under 18 in one car if the driver is less than 18.

Whats the minimum age to driver over there?

 

[WaltC]

I think the name of this thread should be changed to:

"nVidia becoming so desperate for sales that it reverts to airbag-enhanced prostitution."

 

[RussSchultz]

That being said, Texas now has a law that limits the number of people under 18 in one car if the driver is less than 18.

Whats the minimum age to driver over there?

I believe it is 16; or 15 with an adult in the car. Of course, I'm nowhere near that age anymore, so I really haven't kept up.

 

[Chris]

Hello Everyone,

There is not much need for conjecture here with the seatbelt topic. The stats are readily and widely available. One of many examples: here found after 45 seconds of messing about with google.

Some excerpts specific to the costs that society pays. Please put these three quotes together mentally and draw your own conclusion:

National research has found that crash victims who are not wearing their seat belts have medical bills that are 50 percent higher than those victims who wore a belt. Society bears 74 percent of those costs through increased insurance premiums and taxes.

The American Academy of Pediatrics published a study that showed a direct correlation between driver seat belt use and child restraint use. When a driver buckles up, child passengers are restrained 87 percent of the time. However, when a driver chooses not to buckle up, children are restrained only 24 percent of the time.

In Minnesota, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for people 4 to 34 years of age; they are also the leading cause of workplace death. Traffic crashes kill more children than all childhood diseases combined.

Do you still think that

Wearing or not wearing a seatbelt probably statistically (throughout all of the US) probably has vanishingly small contribution to OTHER persons injury.

Please put it together folks.

If you use your seat-belts, those around you are more likely to use theirs. Seat-belts reduce injury and death. You suffer less, they suffer less, society suffers less.

The second stat alone shows us that a child restraint law is pointless without an adult restraint law.

When I stepped into this thread I promised my self that I would not preach. Now that I have crossed that line I can only apologize and wish you all well in the choices you make for yourself and others.

Regards, Chris.

Not speaking for beyond3d

 

[Josiah]

man, this started out as a nice little thread about strippers, and now it's gone off topic into airbags. WTF?

 

[MuFu]

I've seen some strippers with decent airbags. So not *totally* off topic.

MuFu.

 

[Tim Murray]

I've seen some strippers with decent airbags. So not *totally* off topic.

MuFu.

MuFu, I'd like to congratulate you on just winning this thread. K.I.L.E.R. would be proud.

 

[MuFu]

~DP~

 

[MuFu]

I've seen some strippers with decent airbags. So not *totally* off topic.

MuFu.

MuFu, I'd like to congratulate you on just winning this thread. K.I.L.E.R. would be proud.

I'm sorry, but there can be no winners on a site such as this. We're all losers*.

MuFu.

*and proud of it.

 

[kid_crisis]

I've seen some strippers with decent airbags. So not *totally* off topic.
MuFu.

Well, it seems this thread has come full circle.

Here's the original pics from E3, without censorship, if people want to compare airbags.

http://pub30.ezboard.com/fopaage87310frm2.showMessage?topicID=676.topic

 

[MuFu]

Whoa, first time I've seen them without the "nip-planes". The surgeon did a pretty good job - no artifacts or anything.

MuFu.

 

[Deepak]

Crisis.....

 

[pascal]

Nice, very nice

 

[Son Goku]

If someone is asking about the driving age here in the US, there is no consistent driving age that applies to all states because this is not established by federal law. Rather states establish the law for their own jurisdiction, and well if a person drives out of state, the state they're driving in respects the law of the person's home state. (AKA a person who is 16 and lives in a state that has a driving age of 16 drives into a state where the driving age is 17...this is permissable, but a person who is the legal resident of the state where it is 17 can't drive there...)

When I was living in New Jersey, which is where I was born and grew up until 16 the driving age was 17. When my parents retired and moved to Maine, the driving age was 16 (with a learners permit at 15.5). I'm not sure what the driving age is in NM here, as I didn't move here until I was 25...and then it didn't matter for me anymore.

Speed limits can also very as defined by state also...where for instance here in New Mexico the speed limit on the interstates outside the city is 75 mph. Back East it was much more commonly 65 mph, and some states never did increase it above 55 mph. Some states like Massechusettes had it 55 on their interstates except for the Mass Turnpkike which was 65 mph, at least for a while there. In Montana which I've vacationed before, there was only a night time and truck driver speed limit of 65 mph, but for everyone else none was defined; just "what is reasonable and proper"...

The wearing of seat belts is also mandatory in many states, at least the states I've lived in... Again it's left up to state law and the state legislators here...

Oh and to the advertising, yes we have seen advertising like this before; aka ciggerette commercials. And for awhile there the tobacco companies even sold on the idea that tobacco smoke could help people lose weight. Again the targetting of young teenage girls who are weight conscious and want to look like the super-models who in some cases are on the verge of anerexia...