Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] computer and car prices (was Re: [MLUG])

[Jonathan King <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Tue, 5 Mar 2002, Mike Miller wrote:

> On Tue, 5 Mar 2002, John Engelbrecht wrote:
> 
> > I remember on Discovery Channel they had a Car with a Plastic shell
> > instead of metal, the plastic is some 2 combined materials that allows
> > the car's to reflect away from each other instead of the plastic
> > breaking, or the hood getting smashed.
> 
> 
> Here's a really brilliant idea:  Make car bumpers of a uniform height so
> that whenever cars bump, their bumpers do the bumping.  The government
> could mandate a standard.

I believe there actually are some standards here for bumper
strength, but you're right about the height thing.  And, even if
they did have them, I don't know how well they would work for as
long as the government allows SUVs to be considered "light trucks",
even if they have no bed.  Seriously, the "light trucks" exemption
is a major safety hose for everybody except the auto makers.
 
> Good idea?  It's at least 25 years old.  I remember seeing a
> rerun of a part of an old "60 Minutes" episode where they
> advocated for a standard bumper height.  The evidence was
> overwhelming that it was a good idea. Our government has been
> totally unable to make any progress on this issue, as far as I
> can tell.

The time to have done this, unfortunately, was about 25 years ago,
since the exempted presence of SUVs has essentially made any 
car-only regulations much less effective.

jking


--
To unsubscribe, go to http://mlug.missouri.edu/members/edit.php

Archives are available at http://mlug.missouri.edu/list-archives/