engine fires

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Has any body besides me noticed how many car fires there seem to be now. I wonder if this is because so many car drivers don't have a fire extinguisher in their vehicle. Or is it perhaps due to poor maintenance?

In any case what does the forum think of a federal law to mandate under hood fire suppression systems on all new vehicles, cars and trucks? My thinking is that a powder system, like K12 would be cheaper in the long run than watching the thing burn to the ground.

Second thing I would like to throw out for discussion. How can we change the seat belt system, so that it is more comfortable, and more importantly, how can we get rid of the mis-information that still is making the rounds out there about "You're better to be loose inside the car, in case it goes into water " I have heard this BS idea so many times, and when challenged the person telling the story has had to admit that if you are loose inside the car, the chances are more than good that you will be knocked unconscious, therefore you will be unable to exit the car.

I submitt that we could learn a lot from NASCAR race car builders. Have you ever wondered why racers can walk away from 180 mph wrecks at Talledga, but people are still being killed at 60 mph on the interstate? Could it be that the cars are still not built strong enough? And more importantly, are the drivers still not taking the risk seriously enough? You bet they are not!!

I wonder how it would work if the very first day at driver school con

sisted of a 50 mile an hour crash against a stopped car. Would everyone then have a personal experience to carry them forward into the future? The Ontario Provincial Police have a very interesting demonstration that shows high school students how it feels to be in a 10 mile an hour crash. Its a seat that travels down a short incline, at about a 45 degree angle, and then hits a steel buffer. The kids are seat belted in and it does give you a stiff bang, but a lot less than a real highway speed crash would.


One final idea, borrowed from the racing world, how about the option to be able to order a 4 way seat belt set in your next new vehicle? One that comes over both your shoulders, and fastens in your lap, with one release point. This type might make people wear them correctly. How many times have you seen women with the belt running under their arm pit instead of over their shoulder? I guess they don't understand human anatomy, which says that the force in a collision should be spread over as much area as possable, instead of being concentrated in one small area, the ribs. The priciple for this type of restraint is well known, just look at a baby's car seat, it uses this same kind of seat belt configuration, to secure the child. Comments please forum. Jim Bunting..
 
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