I just returned from a holiday in the States. While there I rented a 1998 Ford Mustang. There was a notice on the visor to look on the other side. I did and took a picture of the second notice. See attached. Am I crazy, or is it logical for a safety device to have a notice that it may kill you?
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No question, pops, it’d be a bummer to have a safety device that killed more people than it saved. But not to worry. If you buckle your seat belts, sit up straight, and put the kids in the backseat, the air bags will be perfectly safe. Of course, if you did all that, you wouldn’t need air bags in the first place.
OK, I’m exaggerating, but there’s no denying that air bags have a catch-22 aspect.
Admittedly some people do everything right and still get killed by air bags–to date, 11 belted adults. Many of these were short drivers who presumably sat close to the steering wheel and were hit by the air bag as it expanded. Short people are now eligible to have a switch installed that lets them disable the air bag.
