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by pengaru 1045 days ago
The primary effect of seatbelt laws is fundraising through pointless fines.

And some informed folks have even argued that in modern vehicles airbags are so effective seatbelts could be worsening accident outcomes. (Elon Musk made this point in one of his podcast appearances re: Teslas)
7 comments
CJefferson 1045 days ago
Which informed folks? Can you provide any study about this, because I haven't heard of any.
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pengaru 1045 days ago
Are you suggesting Elon Musk lied to us in JRE #1609?
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runarberg 1045 days ago
If he made this point there, then yes, yes he lied. This is a lie.
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callalex 1045 days ago
Yes. In fact he lies on most days that end in y.
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owenmarshall 1045 days ago
This is 2023’s version of saying “no, actually, it’s safer to be thrown clear if you’re in a wreck so you don’t end up trapped in a burning car.”
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runarberg 1045 days ago
Pointless conjuncture.

If you want to make this argument, you can at least provide some data on how much some police departments make by collecting seat belt fines, and compare it to other fines and cost of operation. I doubt the seat belt fines are significant enough to warrant this speculation.

The airbag argument is even worse. Modern vehicles go through numerous safety standard tests, including real world experiments where test dummies are put in an actual car crash. If seat belts make the crash worse for the dummy than airbag alone, these tests would have shown it, and there would be publications about it in a peer reviewed science journal. If you are so confident, you should be able to find at least one such publication. I doubt you will.

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sobkas 1045 days ago
No https://ohsonline.com/articles/2008/03/study-airbag-use-with...
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pengaru 1044 days ago
Presumably air bags have improved in the 15 years since then...
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Arrath 1045 days ago
Having been in a roll over accident, yes air bags saved me from braining myself on the door window (I quite appreciate that side curtain airbag now) but would have done sweet fuck all for keeping me actually in my seat during the events.
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bordercases 1044 days ago
Contrarians arguing the possibility without evidence yet cited to back it up is not a definitive conclusion, let alone informed.
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stonogo 1045 days ago
How on earth can you possibly consider Elon Musk "informed"
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