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February 10, 2005
Pedestrian safety: A sound-bite rant
Manufacturers are moving to redesign cars so that they are less likely to kill pedestrians that they strike. Europe and Japan are making such changes a requirement. Sounds very reasonable, wot? Not in the U.S.:
But the rush to act is meeting resistance in the United States, where industry and government regulators alike say making automobiles more pedestrian-friendly is not a priority. Carmakers argue that such changes add cost and alter vehicle appearance in ways consumers might not like -- rounding off hoods and shortening front ends to lessen the danger to the human body.
I'm not proud to live in a country that puts vehicle aesthetics before human life. In the U.S. (so goes the logic), only 12% of automobile fatalities are pedestrians; so why should our aesthetic preferences be disrupted for such a small percentage? Holy crap.
Posted by senioritis at February 10, 2005 09:40 AM