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From: nrh@lzwi.UUCP (N.R.HASLOCK)
Newsgroups: net.consumers
Subject: Re: But at what cost...
Message-ID: <332@lzwi.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Oct-85 10:24:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: lzwi.332
Posted: Wed Oct  2 10:24:38 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 3-Oct-85 05:55:38 EDT
References: <388@decwrl.UUCP> <354@mecc.UUCP> <325@gcc-bill.ARPA> <1771@hao.UUCP> <4407@amdcad.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft
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Summary: ... to whom?


Can this discussion be reduced to a set of basic issues?
1.	Save everybodies lives ( all of the time? )
2.	Save our lives on the road ( we being safe drivers etc. )
3.	Save the lives of suicidal maniacs ( that's not us. No. Never )
4.	Save the lives of pedestrians.
5.	How much are we willing to pay for this safety. ( $ and time )
6.	How much are we going to make everyone else pay.

1 is foolish if not impossible.
2 implies that we do nothing. We are safe because we will never ever
have an accident and we will always be able to avoid anyone elses.
3 says that we build cars so that the car will always protect its
occupants. For example, all rigid parts, inside and out, must be
covered with enough resilient padded to protect the occupants from
any accident ( why are we still using steering wheels? Servos driven
from a reasonable sized joystick would be so much safer! ).
4 is easy. Chain link fences along all public roads, reinforced with
crash barriers. Pedestrian overpasses or underpasses at every
intersection.
5 is the obvious problem because the answer is as little as
possible. We are never going to see the benefit of any time or money
invested because we never have accidents.
6 is going to get the same answer as 5. The only way out is to get
someone with a big enough stick to make someone else pay.

As a result of this analysis, we are going to have to compromise.
Before I decide what to compromise on, I want to see some real data
on auto incidents in the last few years. For instance, how many were
head on, head to side, head to tail, flips, spins. Table according
to road speed, road class, number of passengers, degree of injury,
road condition, weather.
-- 
--
{ihnp4|vax135|allegra}!lznv!nrh
	Nigel		The Mad Englishman or
			The Madly Maundering Mumbler in the Wildernesses

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