preview

Argumentative Essay About Seat Belts

Decent Essays

It is a well documented fact that legislation lags behind automotive technology more often than not. There are many vehicular safety improvements floating around only in the imaginations of engineers. However, because legislators live many years in the past, they have not been able to be implemented. Those on the side of Libertarian values would argue, that it is no place of the (already too large) government to enforce laws that affect only the driver… to them I invite to read something else.
Let’s use the seat belt as an example. Before 1960, simple two point seat belts were more harmful than they were helpful. Interestingly, race car drivers already had even five point harnesses, so proof of concept was beyond proven. Yet, it was not until …show more content…

It was first introduced as traction control in the United States in 1971. Mercedes-Benz refined it 24 years later, by integrating it with anti-lock brakes. But there was no comprehensive law mandating its use until 2008.
Well before Takata turned airbags into claymore mines they were saving lives left and right. Despite being invented in the in the 70s, they were not made mandatory until 1997. Unfortunately, that had the downside of making the Land Rover Defender ineligible to be sold in the US. What is more interesting is that the United Kingdom did not demand cars be equipped with an airbag until just this year (that is why the Defender was retired there).
Those were clear, common (decency) sense automotive technology improvements that had no downside (other maybe a dollar to ten or so a car to install)… and they took at least 9 years to become a country-wide law. The fact that it had to be mandated before automakers made it ubiquitous is a whole other indictment entirely.
Most other automotive improvements, are not addressed so quickly. There are countless other improvements that could (and some say should) be made an imperative, but are not (yet). Features like: rearview cameras, infrared headlights, lane departure warnings (at least), and drowsiness

Get Access