Airbags - Pop Em Or Keep Em

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Airbags - Pop em' or Keep em'

During the rainstorm, it's hard to see anything-especially when the downpour makes the windshield wipers work constantly. On this cold, dreary
September night young two year old Mica is safely buckled in her child safety seat, which is attached to the passenger seat belt. Her older brother, Sean, quietly sleeps in the backseat while his mother drives the exhausted children home. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a tall, 12 point buck is caught by the vehicles' headlights. Both the buck and the mother freeze. A milli-second later, a powerful explosion occurs inside the cabin. The airbags deflate nearly as quickly as they inflate, and Sean begins to scream. His mother is fine. The seatbelt along with the airbag saved her from any serious harm. She is still dazed as she looks over to her two year old, expecting more screaming. Nothing.
Nothing happens. She shakes her little girl and realizes that something is drastically wrong. Mica is dead.
At last count, this scenario has happened 31 times. How many more times does it have to happen before the automotive industry does something about it?
Children are not the only victims, though. Small women and the elderly have also been killed as a result of airbags. The time has come to ask ourselves,
"Do airbags really work?"
First off, most people feel that airbags are a great safety device.
They let people walk away from an accident without a scratch, right? They protect everybody, right? People don't need seatbelts if their car has an airbag, right? Wrong. Airbags cause injuries, airbags kill, and airbags don't work unless seatbelts are worn. In a rollover accident, people still have a chance of being thrown from the car even if their car has airbags. Not only are the airbags dangerous, they are also a key target for thieves. The easy to remove airbags coupled with the high street value make them sought after by thieves. The couple of hundred dollars received by the thieves is more than enough incentive to target them, since they are worth more than most car stereos.

When looking at the airbag issue, we must first look at the issue of safety. When the idea of installing airbags was first introduced, it seemed to be a good, life-saving idea. However, according to CNN...

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...ecome more dangerous on the roads when they have them. People not only drive faster, they also take more risks, according to Reason magazine. These risks include increased speeding and not wearing their seatbelts. Drivers with airbag equipped cars feel that the airbag gives them an advantage, and that they can drive like a maniac (Carson 14). An airbag will not work properly if a seatbelt isn't worn. This belief can kill, as it has before. Many people would probably still be alive today if they would have worn their seatbelt in conjunction with their airbag. In an accident, the airbag will not prevent the passenger from being ejected from the vehicle.
Throughout life, the one thing that I have learned is that nothing is
100% reliable. If people just wear seatbelts, they face a chance of being ejected at speeds of 70 miles an hour. If people don't wear any safety device, they sustain serious injuries in fender benders. Airbags can even harm people in a low speed crash. Let's not forget that there have already been way too many accidents that were preventable. Let's not have to face the situation of having to look over and realize that our Mica is dead.

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