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BangShift Question Of The Day: How Safe Is Too Safe?


BangShift Question Of The Day: How Safe Is Too Safe?

Did you ever see the movie Demolition Man? It’s got Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone in it, features one badass 1970 Olds 442 as a scene-stealer, and is based in a utopian future where Taco Bell is fine dining, you get fined every time you utter an expletive and where…um…well, if you know what the three shells do, please tell me, because I’ve been trying to understand that since childhood and I still can’t figure that out. But there is one scene that is ringing fairly true for me right about now: the futuristic autonomous-driving capable police cruisers, when crashed, fill with “SecureFoam” to the point where the occupant is cocooned inside the shell of the vehicle. In the mid-1990s, this was a punchline. In today’s world, maybe not so much.

Let’s take the 2012 Chevy Cruze that has become my fuel mileage selection here at BangShift Mid-West. I want you to keep a couple of things in mind: this is a car that is within a couple of inches both length and width-wise of a 1968 Chevrolet Nova…no kidding. It’s an Eco model, a six-speed car, and isn’t optioned all that extravagantly. So, about the safety of the car? Watch this video and see that the ten airbags are only just the start:

Well, the good news is that I’ll probably be alright if something happens to the little rollerskate. Ok, I’m having a laugh at the idea of the whole car turning into a gigantic pillow the moment the shit hits the fan, but I’m not stupid…this is the kind of technology that has saved lives over the last few decades. Airbags have many problems associated with them, but the moment they work when you need them to the most, you’ve never been happier to see one. Nothing wrong there.

Now, I want you to check out something new that was recently put out by ZF Group. The company that makes transmissions is now trying out something they are calling a “pre-crash external side airbag system” that is supposed to offer up extra cushioning for side impacts. Not to be that guy, but maybe driving something more substantial than a prop car made of what might be pool noodles with a car-like covering would’ve been more convincing. Watch the demonstration and see for yourself:

Alright, BangShifters, now is the part where you get to fire back. At what point do you say “enough”? My personal limits: I’m good with seatbelts, I’d prefer harnesses, and I could give a rat’s ass less about airbags for myself. I don’t need or want electronic nannies in my vehicles like lane departure systems and automatic parking. And the day that the outside of the car turns into a marshmallow over a near-miss in a parking lot is the day I quit and start hoarding 1980s and 1990s crapboxes…just earlier today, the Cruze would’ve popped like a corn kernel four times in the parking lot of an expansive grocery store in Cincinnati thanks to dumbasses who weren’t paying attention. My insurance adjuster would’ve had a kitten once he got that report!

When do we reach the mark of “too much safety”?


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4 thoughts on “BangShift Question Of The Day: How Safe Is Too Safe?

  1. Grouchy Old Curmudgeon

    Maybe it\’s time to consider replacing the airbag with a sword…

  2. David

    MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!

    When will we go back to…be a responsible driver!!!!!

    This reminds me of a NASCAR commentator, saying out loud, that he thinks, at times…that the cars a to safe. The drivers are taking risks, that they wouldn’t have 20 years ago…because they know, the car and the SAFER Barrier, will save them.

  3. Gary

    Make it Stop has a point, and it particularly applies to everyday cage drivers. The more safety and automation put in a vehicle, the less engaed the great masses of clueless drivers are.
    One thing we should ever forget: this is not being done for our “safety”. It is being done at the pressure of the auto insurance companies, through PAC’s, Lobbyists, and lawyers, to push the auto manufacturers to do this to lessen the insurance company’s liability! Why should they pay for it, when for a fraction of the cost, they can pay a politician do force US to pay for it? Two of the big company’s, Geico and Progressive, are owned by big-time leftist, who think nothing of shackling the people with more government restrictions.
    I prefer liberty and freedom to safety and security, and much prefer natural selection to take it’s course!

  4. Donny

    The safer the cars the less people die, It is a fact. Less kids have to grow up without a dad or mom, less kids dead, drunk drivers killing fewer people. Only issue here is that some dumb people are offended that a car is \”too safe\” and not enough people are dying. Average folks suck at driving and making the cars more dangerous won\’t make them drive any better. The quicker we can get these morons into cars driven totally by computers the better. If you still want to drive a rust bucket that collapses into itself you are still free to do so.

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