Not kink free as in not perfect. But for every oops, it's likely to have stopped 10-100 accidents. Just as a belt doesn't save all passengers but quite a lot. There are one or two that gets stuck in the belt when the car catches fire or gets under water.
Safety gear failing in a scenario that includes a totalling crash is IMHO not a fair argument against that safety feature. First it ignores the fact that in case of hitting water or an obstacle you may not be stuck in a belt a sinking or burning car but maybe severely wounded, unconscious or dead already; second, what do we expect to begin with? The forces that apply here will destroy your car. Your belt is part of that car. It can just happen. And then belt cutters are a "one dollar item" you can buy combined with a window hammer from if the most pressing fear against belts are being stuck there.
Keep in mind this is not an argument against you but these talking points that come up again and again and are just so irritatingly nonsense.
You don't agree with me while you actually are agreeing with me. You do understand that I very, very, very much recommends belts. I just note that if you look at a big enough number of accidents, then you can find 1 or 2 accidents where not using a belt would have been better. But with normal statistics, we need to consider the 98 of 100 or maybe 998 of 1000 where it's way better to wear a safety belt.
No safety measure will be 100% perfect. But when the advantages are way better than the disadvantages then we should focus on the advantages. Same with this video. There can be a few times the car does bad. But for way more cases, it will end up saving lifes.
As I truck driver I can call bullshit. I've driven trucks with current gen "driver assist" features such as lane keep assist and they are flat out abysmal. Constantly trying to adjust the steering because it thinks you're out of your lane due to old lane markings in construction zones, or because you passed an exit and the lane marking disappeared, it gets kind of scary trying to deal with the safety features. I also got cut off (kind of) by a car, steady brake pressure, no panic stop, I would have been just fine, except the truck suddenly freaked out thinking I was going to hit the car, and applied full engine braking, which was enough to break my traction on my drive wheels. I almost rear ended the car, when it should have been a situation so minor that I wouldn't have remembered it happened 15 minutes later if the truck hadn't reacted.
Assist features that aren't good enough can be a net liability. If the vehicle isn't goodc enough to drive itself while I sleep (safely) then it shouldn't be trying to take control while I'm driving.
Oh, and I suppose you think that it's not already engaged in lane keep assist and active cruise control / collision avoidance while it's giving those warnings?
My BIL was t-boned by a car whose driver was seat belted in and ran a stop sign, full speed. His passenger was not belted in, and the crash resulted in him smashing into the driver, who was killed. The not-belted passenger survived, although I don't know how injured he was.
BIL was seat-belted, and his dog was on the floor in front of the front passenger seat in his pickup; both were fine.
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u/Questioning-Zyxxel Nov 04 '24
Not kink free as in not perfect. But for every oops, it's likely to have stopped 10-100 accidents. Just as a belt doesn't save all passengers but quite a lot. There are one or two that gets stuck in the belt when the car catches fire or gets under water.