Back in June of '97 I got into my '93 Sable one evening and my eyes were assaulted by a blinking yellow light on the dash. It said, "AIR BAG". It worried me, "Would this thing go off and blast me in the face without warning?" Actually the whole idea of having a bomb filled with compressed nitrogen in my car, with its outlet pointed at my face has worried me since the first time I heard of something called an air bag. Note: I have been informed by a visitor to my site that the bags no longer use a compressed cylinder of nitrogen. They now use a pyrotechnical device that contains a pair of chemicals that react when the come in contact. React in this case is a euphonism for EXPLODE. So now a bomb goes off in my face. More interesting to me is that the two chemicals that form the binary mixture are irritating to the eyes if they do not react completely and a certain amount will not react in every situation. So now I get a blast of irritating chemicals in my face. Ford's improvements are impressive.
So I called my friendly (?) FORD dealer and learned that I "should bring the car in immediately to have it fixed." Of course that worried me, was the thing about to go off without warning and reason? I asked what would happen if I didn't bring it in. The reply was that if it were not fixed the air bag was disabled and would not "deploy" if I had an accident. I explained this was exactly the state I wanted and the person insisted I bring the car in for repair. (at my cost I might add.) He was so insistent, after all he is a sales person.
So I asked again, "Will this accidentally go off and blast me in the face?" He replied, "If the light is flashing, it will not go off under any condition." I thanked him as he again told me that I must bring the car in for repair. It must be fixed. It was almost a threat, the car must be brought in for repair. I told him the car was working fine, there is no need for repair and hung up.
So the light still blinks, because to get it to stop blinking is to have it "fixed" so that it will "deploy" if I have an accident or if it decides to "deploy" on its own, as have more than a few tens of thousands of the devices. And if I have it fixed there is a cylinder of compressed Nitrogen (or explosive chemicals) under the hood that will blast into a plastic bag just in front of me. That bag will deploy fast enough to possibly break my arms or injure my neck. If I were shorter, it would be life threatening, alas, I am only borderline in height for this so I have a good chance of surviving as a paraplegic!
But to make sure I repair this menace to my safety FORD has a better idea. They have placed a BLINKING light on the dash, a light that is not only blinking but also brighter than any other light on the dash. It sure gets your attention.
Now tell me why a light that signals that a system is in safe mode is designed to get more attention than any other light on the dash?" I know the answer. It has taken a lot of study and remembering something I was told when I was young, "If you want to know why something is being done, follow the money." Or let me put it another way, "See who gets rich off of it."
Where does the money flow around air bags? WHo handles it? Who passes it on? Where does some of it stop? Who gets it? Let me show you. The car dealer gets paid several hundred dollars for each air bag system that is installed in a car. (You pay that when you buy a car as part of the price.) Remember that the higher the price of the car, the easier it is fro the dealer to skim off some money. A few hundred here, a few hundred there, and soon you are talking about real money. And the dealers get more of the cut on options than the car. Much of this money goes to the manufacturer after the dealer takes his cut and passes the extra tax money to the state. (Yes, the state coffers get little pieces from here and there.)
The money that goes to the manufacturer gets divided between the members of the United Auto Workers (an oxymoron for the acronynm UAW which means, "U Ain't Working"), the Automaker's, and the companies that make the systems and components and the taxes to the state, local and federal government. These all have EFFECTIVE and well funded ($$$$$$) lobbies that keep lawmakers happy. Lawmakers keep them happy by keeping the requirements of air bags, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE BEEN PROVEN TO BE KILLERS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. And to make sure they get fixed when they malfunction and then deploy, FORD has a blinking light. Of course, remember that Ford, its dealers and the component manufacturers get a cut every time one of these things goes off, no matter if it is a real or false activation". They get the money for putting the car back together, something that can approach the $1000 mark. Remember that the explosion destroys the dash!
Why is it so important they deploy? Because it would be politically bad if someone were in an accident and the bag did not deploy. Every TV magazine show would run the story because it is a left wing cause. So the bag must deploy, EVEN IF A DEPLOYMENT MIGHT KILL SOMONE. After all, the left knows what is best for you.
Why isn't the women's movement up in arms? Why aren't the safety guru's, the Naderites and their fellow travelers up in arms about this menace? Remember how they attacked the Corvair. Remember the book that made Ralph Nadar, "Unsafe at any speed" which was a lie from its inception. Why aren't they clamoring about this menace?
It is easy. They are the ones who became so keyed up on these devices and pushed so hard for their adoption that they cannot now back off. Their EGO is killing people. Their need to be in control is killing people, mostly small kids and women.
I personally wear seat belts all the time, they have been proven effective, they do not routinely kill people, although I will be the first to adit that there have been a couple of deaths over the years that may not have occurred if the person were unbelted. I know one older state trooper that has been early on the scene of dozens of fatal accidents that said he has never unbelted a dead body. The death rate for people belted in is small. But I resent having a shotgun pointed at my face when I drive (or any time for that matter.) And I resent the people who for money will force me to have one.
Since I first read the concept article about them, I have maintained that Air Bags are KILLERS. As evidence continues to be accumulated, others are getting the same idea. There seem to be at least three ways they kill.
First, they break the person's neck, generally only if the person is short. Children and females have a higher risk because they are statistically shorter.
Second, they blast the person's head against the door column if the person is not exactly in front of the airbag causing a head injury.
Third, they reduce seat belt use by providing a FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY. Seat belts have been proven to save lives. Air bags kill.
We will be placing the list of those who are killed as the result of the unholy alliance of dishonest bureaucrats, self serving management and self serving union leaders.
A local hairdresser, Heather Mueller of East Berlin, 51, died after being ejected from a car that was involved in an accident. According to police, she was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, the air bag DID DEPLOY but failed to restrain her. The driver of the other car was wearing a seat belt, he was treated and released from the hospital. Webmaster note: Although we cannot assume she woudl have been unhurt, it is likely Heather's injuries would have been more in line with those of the other driver. This was a head on, the type of accident in which air bags are touted to be the most effective. It didn't do Heather a whit of good. Statistically she should have lived another 25 years, one third of her life was taken from her.
A 17 year old woman was pronounced dead at the scene of an accident, she was not wearing a seat belt, the air bag failed to prevent her injuries. Author's note: The air bags are causing a sense of security that causes people to not buckle up.. This young woman's life was cut short by this false sense of security. Statistically she should have lived another 60 years, more than 4/5ths of her life was taken.
The following is a note I got on the FORD HAS A BETTER IDEA PAGE,
with my comments in italics.
See Common Sense in York PA - Home Page I'll be very surprised if
(c) Ralph Brandt, 1996 Write me at brandtre@draaw.net
Return to Geocities Home Page
Revised 3/26/2000 DRAAW is not a misspelling, it is an acronymn for Dee,Ralph, Angela, Annette and William.
Copyright 1995,6,7,8,9,2000 Ralph E. Brandt, York PA
From brandtre@puma.draaw.net Fri Mar 20 21:44:54 1998
Date: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 21:30:04 -0500 (EST)
From: brandtre
From
Subject: Re: Ford....
On Fri, 20 Mar 1998,
> Boy,
> I have to say, I agree with a lot of your
writing... however, most of the
> things you say in your "Air Bag" story are not
true at all. To name just a
> few; 1) There is NO cylendar of compressed NO2 that fills... the
inflation of
> an air bag is an actual EXPLOSION simular to that of a shot gun blast, set off
> by an electronic "spark".
Come see, come sa, some have the no2, some do not, the ones with the explosive
device scare me most. They break arms, smash faces, and they CAN go off without
an accident, they have caused 2 locally and these somehow never hit the press.
2) Air bags are installed at the factory, and
> dealers get no extra bonus for replacing them any more than the normal profit
> they make (which I admit is a bit excessive!)
I did not say they get an extra bonus, BUT they get more profit on the original
sale and the replacement. If nobody made extra money I would be less nervous.
And markup on options is bigger than on the car! I know they are not optional now)
but the extra was good while it was coming, and the reduced income is nice.
And besides, your 97 Sable has a
> 5year 50,000 mile warranty on the air bag and seat belt system. It probably
> would not have cost you a penny to have the reapir made.
My sable is 93. It waited just long enough to go out of warrenty, FORD has several
better ideas.
BTW, from 1959 to 1972 I never owned anything but a ford. When the last two
were lemons, I bought a chrysler.. Most of my vehicles since have been chrysler
products. I'm not the usual FORD basher, I'm one who's dad never owned anything else.
But I got so disolusioned with the deplorable quality. I went back for one in 78,
and it blew en engine, just a few thousand out of warrenty.
Now the only Fords I own are used and cheap.
> I would challange you to prove that air bags cause more deaths than they
> save. I will admit that I have hear and seen my share in injuries in my
> years... but most of then could havebeen prevented by people taking the TIME
> to READ the books that came with their 30,000 dollar car. You wouldn't BELIEVE
> the number of women I have told, " You really should have your (child) in the
> back seat, that air bag could hurt them." and I get told that it would be a
> "Bother" or "inconveient", once I was even told that,"Little
> wouldn't stand to be put in the back!" Tell me what the hell THAT is all
> about??
EVERY DEATH I know of has been a small WOMAN, not a child. I find no warning on
that. BTW, I read the book... And most of the deaths are from people who are
killed by the second bump -- they have on no seat belt and are thrown out of hte
car after the explosion goes off in their face and the car bounds off and hits
another object.. See the one on my page, it was in the news just a couple of
months ago, EJECTED fromt he car...
And I am appalled at the way you can be so insensitive about the death of a child
but then YOU benefit from the sale of airbags.
> You know what? Air bags kill stupid people that don't read, air bags kill
> people that think "It will never happen to me.", and sadly, air bags kill
> children of stupid people that are too lazy to put the children in the back
> seat.
> Keep up with the writing, I honestly enjoy it. I'm sorry to say that I work
> for a dealership... you should not have been "pressured" into getting your air
> bag fixed if you did not want to have it. Did you know that you can have yours
> disconnected now?
>
You apparently have an axe to grind., I suspected that when I started the note,
I can have it disconnected, IF I AM WILLING TO LIE. Which I am not.
Publically they are not to pressure, but they do. Is that a "mistake"?
If they disconnect an air bag, they remove the need to replace it. That takes money
from the dealer. They do make a profit repairing them.
But my pappy said follow them money...
people write to me.
Get your own
Free Home Page