response 248 of 413:

Nov 6 19:20 UTC 2003

I have not been a believer in air bags in the past, and am not one now 
after my experience of Tuesday night.

I think driver-side air bags are enough of a danger to enough people 
that they should not be standard equipment on vehicles.  If I were 
given the choice, were I to buy a new car, I'd choose to not have an 
airbag.

Passenger side air bags *kill* children.  I definitely don't want a 
safety device on my car which might kill my son.  If I get a newer car, 
I'll be trying to find someone who can disable the passenger side 
airbag for me.  I'd prefer not to get a car that new.

On my old car, the air bag shouldn't have gone off.  A newer car has 
sensors which would have prevented the air bag from deploying for that 
type of accident.  How are those sensors going to work on present-day 
new cars when they're 10 or 15 years old?  I wouldn't bet on them 
working very well.

Once the air bag goes off, the car is essentially ruined.  The assessor 
told me it costs $1500 just to replace the airbag, once it's gone off.  
Insurance companies typically total the car, even cars only a couple of 
years old, *just* because the airbag went off, according to the man who 
originally towed my car.