Actually, many (all?) of them do have laws by that name, but I don't think any of them compel you to render aid. They protect you from law suits if you are providing aid in a nonprofessional capacity and don't exceed what a common person would have done. IE, no chainsaw amputations for a broken arm or such general stupidity, but if I accidentally break your arm pulling you out of your car while it is upside down in the river in February, you can't sue me.

They had to redesign it several times anyway.



The amount of steel to make all the buckles in the car right would probably have changed the price < $1 per car compared to the cost of the way they did it at today's prices for steel especially when bought in the quantities they would use if all the models were standardized to the new version. Compared to the class action lawsuit that someone that has found this out could hit them with?

I have to agree about kicking & screaming over airbags. Popular Science or Mechanics released the figures in the late 80's/early 90's about the differences in survival rates. They compared not having either, only airbag, only seatbelt, and both seatbelt & airbag. Adding the airbag in addition to the seatbelt only gained about 4%. If one of these deploys when it isn't needed (parking lot fender bender) could cost some serious cash to replace it & get all the powder out.

Well that's exactly the problem. If they did redesign it and said, "oh yeah, they used to jam so we fixed it so it wouldn't" that would open them up to liability. So they're damned if they fix it, damned if they don't, but it probably costs less if they don't. It's the Formula right? Probability of occurrence x Cost of each lawsuit x Number of cars with defect < Cost of doing recall or fixing the problem. Besides, each dollar you spend on something that doesn't actually sell the car is taken away from things that do, like styling, features, lower price, advertising etc. And unfortunately, this principle applies to all industries, baby carriages, food, medicine...

I'm not trying to defend the auto industry or their practices because they suck. I think the lesson here is not to expect that anyone, except yourself, is looking out for your interests. Thus, everyone should have a belt cutter or knife and basic survival tools. If you really want to increase survivability in car wrecks, put in a roll cage, 5 point harness and wear a nomex suit and helmet. Flinging your body around the land in a metal box at 70mph powered by flammable liquid is rather dangerous but we do it everyday so we think it's safe.

And deliberately designing one that will fail and jam doesn't?

I'm thinking more like design it to function right & hold rather that redesign it to jam. Since most of us don't know that it was designed to jam if it failed, we wouldn't have known that it was redesigned not to fail instead of jam. Replacements in the 60's/70's would have been a lot less than some of the mistakes they've owned up to later. Back then most families probably had only one car instead of two or more like today. This was the era when Detroit was rolling in money.

It's not that I expect them to look out for my interest as it is professional standards. Designing a buckle that can't stand the same load as straps it's connected to is poor design & unprofessional. Connections should be designed to withstand the same or greater load than the connecting members.

The only advertising that has sold me any of my vehicles was the last one had a web site that I could look at while trying to get one on the truck. The first three were what I could afford (used). The truck was based on knowing how the previous model performed as a work truck. The last one was a Toyota hybrid Camry. I heard form somewhere that they were coming out with a hybrid model about April, researched it and hybrids in general in May, & started looking for a way to get what I wanted in June.

What percentage of crashes involve a fire? Not the potential for a fire, that's like asking how many police calls are "man with a gun" situations, but actual fires. Very few- they are a fluke.

How many crashes involve being thrown about or out of the cabin? I don't have an exact number, but a lot more than those that involve a catastrophic combustive failure of the gas tank. By a lot.

I'd rather be hanging upside down in my car for an hour than being tossed out the window. Particularly if the car is still rolling, and in my direction. "Failsafe" is a term of the art- if it's going to bust, it is going to bust in a manner that ensures the greatest safety to the user.

I've heard from several people that the forces and torques on a car can be pretty incredible in an accident. The rule I've heard is that don't assume anything not tied down will still be there. Applying that to the folder clipped to the side of the seat, I think in a serious accident there's a very good chance it will come flying out (possibly opened?). I've heard the same thing about the glove box -- expect it to fly open and everything to spill out. I think this kind of approach -- clipped to seat, sitting in glove compartment -- is great for more minor stuff, but don't rely on being able to find it in a more serious accident or a rollover.

Cable-tied to the seatbelt seems like a good solution, though aesthetically I'm not sure I can live with it! I don't have any good solutions other than making sure you have a knife or Res-Q-Me in your pocket, where you know it'll stay. Just thought I'd pass along the advice about "everything that's not nailed down will fly around" that I've heard.

One problem with keeping the tool in your pocket or having a knife clipped in your waistband is that is exactly where the seatbelt presses if you're inverted. So you may not be able to get it out when you need it most. An alternative location to attach the belt cutter may be the thick cable that supports the buckle, you're going to be groping there anyway.

I remember reading about a DUKW (an ex-navy amphibious vehicle) being used as a "tour boat" that sank in Hot Springs, Arkasas. Due to a full-length canopy, 13 people (three of them children) couldn't get out and drowned. A simple pen knife would've made short work of those plastic window. This nonsence of 'things' being bad has got to stop.

Honestly, you're probably just hearing the horror stories. I worked 8 years in an ambulance, and not once had to cut a person from their seat belt.

Having just flown in a recent Cessna 172 today, I can see the usefulness of some means of cutting out since the releases are on the outside near the door. If a crash impact were to deform the cabin in such a way where you couldn't get your hand between the door and seat, there's little other way to get out of the belt, especially if the inertia wheel(s) are still locked.

Cars may not be a huge issue, but certain planes might be.