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From: jeff@gatech.CSNET (Jeff Lee)
Newsgroups: net.legal
Subject: Re: Seat Belts
Message-ID: <771@gatech.CSNET>
Date: Wed, 7-Aug-85 08:39:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: gatech.771
Posted: Wed Aug  7 08:39:25 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 8-Aug-85 01:35:31 EDT
References: <316@baylor.UUCP> <145@batman.UUCP> <2193@amdcad.UUCP> <2364@amdcad.UUCP>
Organization: School of Information and Computer Science, Georgia Tech, Atlanta
Lines: 23

> I saw an assertion somewhere (not on USENET) that 1) air bags are better
> than seat belts in protecting against the kind of accidents that seat belts
> are good for and 2) air bags are good in some accidents which seat belts
> can't handle at all.
> 
> This sounds amazing (unbelieveable) to me but I'd be willing to listen to
> explanations on how this could be so.

I have read (consumer reports, again) that air bags are NOT a substitute
for seatbelts. They are simply an enhancement to the existing safety
systems. If you do not wear a seatbelt, you may still get thrown from the
car or beaten when the car rolls or you are hit from the side. Air bags
lessen injury during frontal impacts.

I would like to see what kind of accident that seatbelts cannot handle very
well (or even hinder survival). A good 3 point safety belt prevents forward
motion and helps suppress motion side to side. It also holds you down if you
decide to roll. What can't they do that might happen in some types of
accidents?
-- 
Jeff Lee
CSNet:	Jeff @ GATech		ARPA:	Jeff%GATech.CSNet @ CSNet-Relay.ARPA
uucp:	...!{akgua,allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,seismo,ulysses}!gatech!jeff