What is worse than an air bag? The nut behind the wheel!!

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Hey, we may not always be able to do anything about politicians, but here's something we CAN do to make ourselves safer!
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Three Ways to Avoid A Dangerous Air Bag
By Sharon Carty, May 21, 2015

Earlier this morning I was on a radio talk show chatting about the Takata airbag recalls, and the host asked me if it made sense for people to get their airbags disabled rather than face the possibility of being hit in the face and body with shrapnel if they ever crashed.

The answer is simple: Absolutely not. First, you probably won’t be able to find any mechanics willing to do that for you. Second, the chance that it’s your air bag that will turn into a grenade is very, very slim. Relying on just your seatbelt in a serious accident is a huge gamble that I don’t advise anyone take.

Still, it’s going to take a long time for these airbag parts to be replaced — up to five years by some estimates. That’s a dog’s age to drive around with something dangerous living behind your steering wheel.

Yet most of us put up with just such a threat every day.

My advice? Stop being a shitty driver. The best way to stay safe in a crash is to not get in one in the first place.

“But Sharon,” you might argue, “I am an excellent driver!” I’m sure you are. Or at least, I’m sure you think you are. But studies show that people engage in risky behavior behind the wheel all of the time. And they trick themselves into believing they are able to do these behaviors well because, most of the time, they don’t get into accidents. Until they do.

Here are some common, frustrating driver behaviors you could stop doing today that will slash the likelihood that you will get blasted in the face by a faulty airbag:

1. Stop texting and driving.

OK people. Let’s be frank. A lot of us don’t see any problem with looking at our texts, checking our email, or even popping on to Facebook for a minute while we’re speeding down the highway.

Just this week, AT&T released a report saying that, despite its efforts and other awareness campaigns, drivers are increasingly using their phones for things besides texting while driving. AT&T says that 30 percent of people who post to Twitter claim they do it while driving “all of the time.” Another 10 percent of people will even video chat while driving.

Want to avoid a crash? Stop doing that.

2. Stop drinking and driving.

As a society, we have gotten better about lowering our alcohol consumption and taking more care before we get behind the wheel. Mothers Against Drunk Driving says the number of deaths caused by impaired drivers has been cut in half since the organization was founded in 1980. But people are still doing it. The Center for Disease Control says that the average drunk driver has driven impaired 80 times before he or she gets arrested.

Let that sink in for a minute. Eighty times.

Most people aren’t really aware of their blood alcohol content before getting behind the wheel. Having just one or two drinks can put you over the limit, and increase your likelihood of getting into a crash.

Even though we should all know how dangerous this behavior is, people are still doing it. To date, six deaths around the world have been linked to Takata air bags; in 2013 in the United States alone, the death toll from drunk drivers surpassed 10,000 victims. So if you are one of those people who is scared of getting hit with a Takata airbag, don’t drink and drive, or use drugs of any kind – prescription or illegal – before driving.

3. Stop driving like an idiot.

And by driving like an idiot, I mean tailgating on the highway. Driving too fast. Swerving through traffic. Not paying attention while driving through intersections. Multiple surveys over the years have shown that the vast majority of drivers think it’s someone else’s fault when they get into an accident. And yet researchers know there are common driving behaviors that lead to accidents.

Speed is, by far, the biggest factor that can determine whether an accident turns fatal. It’s just basic physics that tells us that when a body moving at a high rate of speed comes to a sudden stop, the forces on the human body are multiplied.

But beyond that, driving slower lets you react to the changing landscape better. And it makes it easier to bring your car to a stop. Plus, when you’re not tailgating and you’re leaving enough space between you and the car in front of you, you have ample room to brake if the person in front doesn’t have a Takata airbag and isn’t so worried about shrapnel in the face and torso. Be aware of those drivers. There are plenty of them out there on the roads.

The Takata recall is one giant mess at the moment, and it will take a long time to clean up. The best thing you can do is make sure you know if your car is involved, and do what you can to keep yourself out of a crash. Keep using your seatbelt, too, and pile on the common sense when you’re driving.
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