Air bags (again) (marginal Audi content)

["Shaun D. Mullen" <smullen@philly.infi.net>]

The Clinton administration seems determined to give motorists the option
of switching off air bags.  Many folks, myself included, oppose such an
option, but a fatal accident last week in Lakeville, Minn., should add
fuel to an already contentious and sometimes agonizing debate:  An
11-year-old (not a small child or infant) was leaning forward to get a
tissue on the floor of his family's Dodge Grand Caravan minivan when his
mother, distracted by the three children seated in the back, rear-ended
a Chevy pickup.  The minivan's front passenger air bag deployed,
breaking the 11-year-old's neck.

It is my view that very few people are better off without an air bag,
but try telling that to the parents of this 11-year-old, whose death can
now be added to the following NHTSA stats:

Drivers saved by air bags: 2,191
Drivers killed by air bags: 34

Passengers saved by air bags: 314
Passengers killed by air bags: 46 children and three adults.