Proof Positive Government Rules and Regulations Work to Save Time, Money, and very important..Lives.

[Stuart G]

Proof Postive that Government Rules and Regulations can save Time Money and Life..(at no cost to the industry)


Republican leaders consistently say that government rules and regulations hinder profit, cost time, money and are generally anti business and worthless. In one industry not only is this not true, but it is lie beyond what we know is truth. Everyone here will accept this truth by the end of reading this post, The Democrats have always been in favor of these rules, proposed them, and helped them pass. Republicans were always against these rules, but many would now admit that they work and should be kept...read on......
Use this argument to destroy the talking point against government rules and regulations..It destroys it completely.

It is about seat belts and other safety requirements.. ..Seat Belts, Air Bags crumple zone ,safer roads,setc.
anti lock brakes..


In 1955 The Ford Motor Company started advertising nationally about a new safety feature that you could get in cars. about . And I remember asking my parents, what are these things called..seat belts? The cost was 50 dollars for two in front seat only...
(that is 250 - 300 in today's money, maybe more) You could get them installed by the dealer,
or order them when you order car. A few years later Ford announced that the extra features were not financially profitable..It seems that few wanted them, and they seemed to be "restrictive" as was said. I remember people saying that and also they couldn't be very "effective" .Let us stop and have a link to a chart that shows that auto deaths were increasing rapidly in the 50s through 1972, then deaths stabilized till 1979..Here is the chart...It is accurate, but lengthy.. from 1911 to present..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year




year--- deaths



1911 2,043

1912 2,968

1913 4,079

1914 4,468

1915 6,779

1916 7,766

1917 9,630

1918 10,390

1919 10,896

1920 12,155

1921 13,253

1922 14,859

1923 17,870

1924 18,400

1925 20,771

1926 22,194

1927 24,470

1928 26,557

1929 29,592

1930 31,204

1931 31,963

1932 27,979


1933 29,746

1934 34,240

1935 34,494

1936 36,126


1937 37,819

1938 31,083


1939 30,895

1940 32,914

1941 38,142

1942 27,007

1943
22,727

1944 23,165


1945 26,785

1946 31,874

1947 31,193

1948 30,775

1949 30,246


1950 33,186

1951 35,309

1952 36,088

1953 36,190

1954 33,890


1955 36,688


1956 37,965

1957 36,932

1958 35,331


1959 36,223

1960 36,399

1961 36,285

1962 38,980


1963 41,723

1964 45,645

1965 47,089

1966 50,894


1967 50,724

1968 52,725

1969 53,543

1970 52,627

1971 52,542

1972 54,589

As you can see, by 1972 there was over all ,a gradual increase in deaths from around 10,000 in 1918 to 54,589 in 1972..Then, deaths stabilized till 1979 at 51093 and afterwards, started to fall dramatically over the next 40 years. Here is the rest of the chart from 69 till 2011. Also...from 1979 to 2011 there has been an increase in U.S. population from 225 million to 310 million approx in 2011..Hit the links at wikipedia and see for yourself...40% increase in population and 40 percent decrease in auto deaths on hi ways....look at the chart....from 79 on down.........

1969 53,543

1970 52,627

1971 52,542

1972 54,589

1973 54,052

1974 45,196

1975 44,525

1976 45,523

1977 47,878

1978 50,331

1979 51,093

1980 51,091

1981 49,301

1982 43,945

1983 42,589

1984 44,257

1985 43,825

1986 46,087


1987 46,390

1988 47,087

1989 45,582

1990 44,599

1991 41,508

1992 39,250

1993 40,150

1994 40,716

1995 41,817

1996 42,065

1997 42,013

1998 41,501

1999 41,717

2000 41,945

2001 42,196

2002 43,005
2003 42,643

2004 42,836

2005 43,443

2006 42,642

2007 41,059

2008 37,261

2009 33,808

2010 32885

2011 32,550(estimate)

What caused this change in auto safety? and deaths on the highway?
easy..........Government rules and regulations...seat belts and other safety requirements



It wasn't fewer drivers, because the number of people increased 40 percent from 1979 to 2010...you do the math. In 1979 the estimated population was 225 million. By 2010 the estimated population was 308 million..Last year 2011 it was 310 million a 40 percent increase in population..Yet, from 1979 to 2011 there was a 40 percent drop in auto deaths..Why?
...At first..in the mid 60s, it began to be accepted that seat belts did indeed reduced traffic deaths. Then it was introduced in the early 70s, the shoulder harness seatbelt combo. Finally in the late 70s under the Carter Administration it was mandated that seat belts be installed in the front seats of all cars. New York was the first state in l984 that mandated that people actually wear seat belts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seat_belt_legislation
In 1987 I recall an accident in the national news involving a 1987 Olds equiped with airbags in the front seat only, that hit head on a truck on a undivided highway at 40 mph. The driver had paid several hundred extra to have those airbags installed. He escaped basically unharmed with minor injuries. Thus began the next stage of government regs. Requirement that air bags be installed too. So now in the late years of the first decade of 2000s, we got seat belts with shoulder harnesses, air bags, anti lock breaks, crumple zones and special lighting on the outside of cars that did not exist in 1955. Rules that these safety devises must be on cars. . The belts are now front and back for all passengers..State regulations that children under certain ages be in child restraint devices and

air bags in the side in all new cars..and so on.
So there it is, government regulations on the manufacturing of cars that make them safer, and state laws that require people to use the belts.. At first the auto companies resisted putting these features on, but eventually costs became such that if given years warning in advance, the costs became much smaller and with mass production, much easier to add on, if put in during design phase of new models. The auto companies just pass the costs on to the consumer with very little effort. Consumers pay, cause they know these features work..so how do they know? After many years of use, there are so many actual stories from person to person whose lives were saved by seat belts and the air bags that people make sure they belt their kids in as well as themselves.

The republican arguement against rules and regulations falls apart due to the simple facts themselves. As people were required to wear seatbelts, deaths were reduced greatly. Tens of millions in the costs of series injuries were avoided, and incredible amounts of time in hospitals and major disabilities were prevented. Every republican leader and friend in this country should see this chart and will easily understand the lie in their own argument. Rules and Regulations work and work well. This is not a small fact...Tens of thousands of lives have been saved..Countless hours in hospital and recovery are eliminated..



Oh..repubicans, libertarians, etc.........
if you do not want to put on your seat belt, well, that is your business.
I don't recommend that ever