Mostly OT Memorial Day rant

Well I was going to stay out of this, but I actually was pulled over for not having a sticker, about 6 months after mine expired. The plate was clean like when I use a razor to remove the old sticker, so it is possible that I was distracted 1/2 through installation. I had the paperwork, so he didn't write a ticket (if you don't have a valid insurance card, they write you a ticket and you get to clear it up through the mail). New sticker was $5. I do the X with the razor and it does make it a pain to remove.
Joel. phx
It didn't help that I've been installing a wireless remote for a couple of years,... and he noticed panels missing as if I hot wired the vehicle.

This should be in the FAQ and the legislative agenda!

Does that make you a registration alleged criminal?

Bad boy :)

I take it then that neither Ken Allen nor Fred Wallace were in that bus.

I don't know. If I don't read the instructions for affixing the sticker, I'm sure not looking for laws pertaining to properly affixing it.
I find it hard to believe instructions exist for putting the stickers on & also find it difficult to believe that people are actually concerned about folowing them.

And what do you do when you have to carry more kids than the back seat holds? Pick-up trucks seem to come with a passenger air bag disable switch. Cars and other vehicles do not. In fact I had to scratch the Honda Insight off my shopping list 3 years ago just because I couldn't ever use it to take my daughter to/from school or day care bacause of that !%*@ air bag.
I really object to paying for air bags in cars. Air bags are designed to protect ADULT IDIOTS too stupid to wear seat belts. At least 99% of air bags are NEVER used; money wasted. Yet ABS is useful on a regular basis to PREVENT the accident from happening. In fact ABS prevented me from smacking into some ID ten T who pulled out right in front of me the third day I had it. They should take all the manditory air bag money, and put it into ABS and GOOD seat belts.
Another irony: when last car shopping, I found exactly ONE car that offered as part of an option package five point seat belts. And it was a $10K option on a $50K+ car!
Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

I find it ironic that you can be ticketed for failing to have your kid belted down in a child seat, yet the state stuffs them in a bus with no seat belt, air bag, or other protection.
I guess that the kids would be safer walking to school, 5 miles uphill both ways, through waist deep snow, like we did when we were kids.
Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" >>> To reply, remove the TRABoD!

You reminded me of another incident that happened recently (I only wish I had been there for it...)
My wife was pulled over by the highway patrol because the officer saw my 12-year-old daughter moving her head and upper body to the music on the radio. He decided that if she was able to do that, she must not be wearing a seat belt, so pulled my wife and kids over. He walked up, my wife asked him what was wrong, he said that my daughter wasn't wearing a seat belt -- and she asked him to look (she was wearing it, and always does).
Unfortunately, my wife was too upset to get his badge number...
David Erbas-White

I have a curious question for those who are well-informed about American explosives regulations and related regulatory stuff.
I've recently replaced my 1984 Civic (with no air bags) with a 2000 Civic with front air bags. I've always wondered about a 'safety' restraint system that can hurt or kill people. Now I'm driving around with an explosive device aimed at my head (the driver side airbag).
Do air bags fall under the same restrictions as model rocket motors?

IIRC, airbag charges are considered PADs.

I wonder if they have to be labeled "Hazardous Materials - Class 1 Explosives", or does everyone just call them something like "emergency inflation devices"?
-dave w

Model Airplane Parts doesn't seem to work...

Ironic, but my complaint is that the state infringes on the right to transport children. I would not even have mentioned the school bus except that it is proof that requiring child safety restraints is burdensome and unwarranted. Now the availability of safety equipment is a good thing and their use should not be discouraged. However, the nanny state should not require their use by consenting citizens in private transportation, nor should law enforcement officers and agencies. I think the state could and probably should require their use in commercial and public transportation. And yes, I think c busses should have simple cheap lap belts, and probably shoulder belts as well.
There should probably be some carrot and stick encouragement to using the safety equipment. However, this should come from the insurance industry and supportive laws. E.g. if a driver or passenger was proven to not be wearing a seat belt at the time of an accident, they would forfeit all rights to sue or collect insurance for bodily injury. Insurance companies could offer cash incentives to their customers who install optional safety equipment, or buy demonstrably safer cars...
Kids are getting fatter these days... It wasn't that bad for me. During K-3 I typically walked 3 miles, although it seemed like 5, and we usually had a car pool running in the winter. 4-5th grade was only about a mile, and an easy bike ride. Middle school was probably farther than 5 miles, but I usually rode the bus. It was a decent trip by bicycle, but I'd only walk it in an emergency. (I also had an early morning paper route during that time.) In HS I lived in the country and I had to take the school bus. Of course then I had chores, like baling hay for horses that I was allergic to...
Alan
> Bob Kaplow NAR # 18L TRA # "Impeach the TRA BoD" > Save Model Rocketry from the HSA!

I agree that air bags are not cost effective. I don't even trust them. A better solution would be the use of crash helmets. Of course most cars don't have enough headroom, and I'm only 5-7 and I drive lexs common version of a car without the sun roof.
I'd pay extra for ABS, but I don't think I could get it without getting the airbags. I hate slack belts and I don't trust them. Too often they just will not take up slack. I'd have them replaced with a good belt system, but no garage will do the work. It seems there is a law against installing better safety equipment.
I'd guess that was just an option for production vehicle race classes.
Alan

That was the original intention, yes. It later turned out the "seat belt substitute" would quickly kill you if you weren't ALSO wearing belts. At that point, it was too late to gracefully kill the airbag concept, so it was implemented as a belt supplement.
In ideal circumstances, an airbag plus appropriate belts will be slightly more effective than belts alone. However in other circumstances, a trivial accident will result in severe injuries and burns caused solely by the airbag. I've seen them in person, at an accident site.
BTW, you'll see many glowing claims for "lives saved" by airbags. Remember Twains third type of lie - statistics. What you don't see is how these clains are measured. The truth: Every time an airbag deploys and someone survives, it's a "life saved."
My greatest objection (and most likely the real reason car manufacturers put the things in) is the premature removal of cars from the market after minor accidents. If a fender bender deploys the bags, you've added at least $1500 to the repair cost - far more on newer multi-bag setups. Presto! The car is totaled, and a new one is sold (even if not to you).

Well, since DOT doesn't have a PAD exemption, airbag charges probably have to be labeled at whatever classification level the DOT sets for them.

But when you need them they are worth their weight in gold. Two years ago my wife was hit head-on by a driver who lost control of her car and crossed the centerline. Both my wife and the other driver were wearing their seat belts; my wife also had an airbag. My wife ended up with a bruised spleen and a broken nose. The other driver died before the paramedics arrived on the scene.
We both drive cars with airbags now.
Mario Perdue NAR #22012 Sr. L2 for email drop the planet
"X-ray-Delta-One, this is Mission Control, two-one-five-six, transmission concluded."

Ya can't win a race, with an airbag in yer face!