Unsafe at any Speed: The Truth about RECALLS WheelHouse
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Date: 2019-10-24
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Comments and reviews: 10
IKnowMyWorldWars
That's a nicely produced video, except Unsafe at any Speed has been largely debunked. His assault on the Corvair was disproven by the NHTSA in 1972, stating the 1960-63 Corvair compares favorably with contemporary vehicles used in the tests. the handling and stability performance of the 1960-63 Corvair does not result in an abnormal potential for loss of control or rollover, and it is at least as good as the performance of some contemporary vehicles both foreign and domestic. By that point it was too late, Chevy has already killed the Corvair. In addition, safety was already increasing. In 1925 the number of deaths per 100 million people on the road was 17. 9, and by 1965 that number had fallen to 5. 5. Nader stretched the truth, and while the creation of safety bureaus in the government is significant and positive, the book itself isn't reliable and is at best apocryphal. You also make it seem like putting explosives in airbags was new and the source of the problem with the Takata airbags. Explosive gases are the main method of airbag inflation in all cars, and their inclusion is not only normal but necessary to their rapid deployment and their positive effect on your safety in a crash. The issue with the Takata airbags was not the propellant but the casing used to hold the propellant. The change in explosive was not accompanied by a change in explosive housing. This housing was a metal cylinder designed to deform in a controlled manner when the previous propellant ignited. With a new propellant, portions of that old style of metal cylinder now had a chance to fracture and the explosive rush of gas from the propellant sent those metal shards into the passenger. You really should get an editor who can fact check your episodes before you go to production.
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That's a nicely produced video, except Unsafe at any Speed has been largely debunked. His assault on the Corvair was disproven by the NHTSA in 1972, stating the 1960-63 Corvair compares favorably with contemporary vehicles used in the tests. the handling and stability performance of the 1960-63 Corvair does not result in an abnormal potential for loss of control or rollover, and it is at least as good as the performance of some contemporary vehicles both foreign and domestic. By that point it was too late, Chevy has already killed the Corvair. In addition, safety was already increasing. In 1925 the number of deaths per 100 million people on the road was 17. 9, and by 1965 that number had fallen to 5. 5. Nader stretched the truth, and while the creation of safety bureaus in the government is significant and positive, the book itself isn't reliable and is at best apocryphal. You also make it seem like putting explosives in airbags was new and the source of the problem with the Takata airbags. Explosive gases are the main method of airbag inflation in all cars, and their inclusion is not only normal but necessary to their rapid deployment and their positive effect on your safety in a crash. The issue with the Takata airbags was not the propellant but the casing used to hold the propellant. The change in explosive was not accompanied by a change in explosive housing. This housing was a metal cylinder designed to deform in a controlled manner when the previous propellant ignited. With a new propellant, portions of that old style of metal cylinder now had a chance to fracture and the explosive rush of gas from the propellant sent those metal shards into the passenger. You really should get an editor who can fact check your episodes before you go to production.
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Thomas Rollins
First of all that pinto defect wasn't found while in the design phase, it was found a year and a half after the car was built. Secondly the defect didnt cause the car to explode, it was the fuel neck that would break upon rear collision which would leak fuel onto the road and if there was a spark from say a dragging piece of metal like a bumper, the fuel would catch in fire subsequently catching the rear of the vehicle on fire. 190 deaths is NOTHING when you consider the fact that the pinto sold damn near half a million units each year between it's inception in 1971 and 1976 before people started that whole explosion nonsense. Sit down in your precious datsun 510 at a stop sign and I'll hit you doing 50 mph in a 69 olds 98 and we will see how well you fare. I don't hear anyone complaining about how unsafe a damn ls6 Chevelle with 450 hp and drum brakes all around was. Or how about all the teenagers killed while hauling ass in Mustangs and camaros of the era compared to how many deaths resulted from catching a pinto on fire. My dad has a pinto wagon, already been rearended by a Nissan maxima in the late 90s. We were just fine. Still got it. Love The pinto.
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First of all that pinto defect wasn't found while in the design phase, it was found a year and a half after the car was built. Secondly the defect didnt cause the car to explode, it was the fuel neck that would break upon rear collision which would leak fuel onto the road and if there was a spark from say a dragging piece of metal like a bumper, the fuel would catch in fire subsequently catching the rear of the vehicle on fire. 190 deaths is NOTHING when you consider the fact that the pinto sold damn near half a million units each year between it's inception in 1971 and 1976 before people started that whole explosion nonsense. Sit down in your precious datsun 510 at a stop sign and I'll hit you doing 50 mph in a 69 olds 98 and we will see how well you fare. I don't hear anyone complaining about how unsafe a damn ls6 Chevelle with 450 hp and drum brakes all around was. Or how about all the teenagers killed while hauling ass in Mustangs and camaros of the era compared to how many deaths resulted from catching a pinto on fire. My dad has a pinto wagon, already been rearended by a Nissan maxima in the late 90s. We were just fine. Still got it. Love The pinto.
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Derrick Bonsell
Nader was right to bring attention to the hazards of the automobile but a lot of his conclusions betrayed his lack of knowledge of automobile engineering. In fact his criticism of the Corvair, although just one chapter in his book, was very contentious. There were several other vehicles with a similar suspension that didn't get a fraction of the public's attention and the NHTSA commissioned a study that found no significant hazard of the vehicle compared to its contemporaries. Additionally automotive deaths per mile driven were on the decline long before Nader.
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Nader was right to bring attention to the hazards of the automobile but a lot of his conclusions betrayed his lack of knowledge of automobile engineering. In fact his criticism of the Corvair, although just one chapter in his book, was very contentious. There were several other vehicles with a similar suspension that didn't get a fraction of the public's attention and the NHTSA commissioned a study that found no significant hazard of the vehicle compared to its contemporaries. Additionally automotive deaths per mile driven were on the decline long before Nader.
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At Zero
I Drive a 1968 Dodge Dart everyday, yes she has Lap belts, and at the time optional Shoulder belts that mount to the roof and can attached to the lap belt by separate seat belt lock and be held there by small clips, In case you don't want to use them. They will never save my life, more or less there to make sure I remain Dead inside my Car and don't have to bug you, by flying thru the windshield to ruin your Day. Peace have fun out there driving your self braking I'm just to busy to drive Cars, cause I'm texting or drunk future cars. and feel safe. Cry babies.
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I Drive a 1968 Dodge Dart everyday, yes she has Lap belts, and at the time optional Shoulder belts that mount to the roof and can attached to the lap belt by separate seat belt lock and be held there by small clips, In case you don't want to use them. They will never save my life, more or less there to make sure I remain Dead inside my Car and don't have to bug you, by flying thru the windshield to ruin your Day. Peace have fun out there driving your self braking I'm just to busy to drive Cars, cause I'm texting or drunk future cars. and feel safe. Cry babies.
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Octane Street
It's actually mind boggling how some of our safety technologies simply didn't exist back then; namely the seatbelt. Looking back at history we almost shake our heads. I wonder what safety technologies we don't yet have, that our future people will look back at and wonder how or why they never existed during our current time. Lane keep assist and automatic crash detection don't seem quite as revolutionary as the seatbelt imo, but i haven't really looked into those relatively new features so I can't say for certain.
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It's actually mind boggling how some of our safety technologies simply didn't exist back then; namely the seatbelt. Looking back at history we almost shake our heads. I wonder what safety technologies we don't yet have, that our future people will look back at and wonder how or why they never existed during our current time. Lane keep assist and automatic crash detection don't seem quite as revolutionary as the seatbelt imo, but i haven't really looked into those relatively new features so I can't say for certain.
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GavGo69
I respect what Nader was trying to do, but I hate him simply because he killed the corvair. The second gen corvair(came out after the book) fixed all of the problems the first had and the second gen was a great car(one of my dream cars) but the book cast a negative light on the car and even though they were better people stopped buying them. Imagine if that didnt happen, and if Chevy never stopped making them. They were literally an American Porsche, rwd, rear engine, flat 6, they were cool
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I respect what Nader was trying to do, but I hate him simply because he killed the corvair. The second gen corvair(came out after the book) fixed all of the problems the first had and the second gen was a great car(one of my dream cars) but the book cast a negative light on the car and even though they were better people stopped buying them. Imagine if that didnt happen, and if Chevy never stopped making them. They were literally an American Porsche, rwd, rear engine, flat 6, they were cool
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Liam Shone
My '08 corsa had a recall not long ago because it had a 'faulty' handbrake (e-brake. They said an overwhelming amount of the cars of the same year as mine that were sold in the UK had an issue where the handbrake would slightly release and let the car slowly roll back causing minor light crashes. That was only in 2018. Just thought it was interesting to see that they only recalled the car a decade later to it being sold let alone first released.
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My '08 corsa had a recall not long ago because it had a 'faulty' handbrake (e-brake. They said an overwhelming amount of the cars of the same year as mine that were sold in the UK had an issue where the handbrake would slightly release and let the car slowly roll back causing minor light crashes. That was only in 2018. Just thought it was interesting to see that they only recalled the car a decade later to it being sold let alone first released.
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Nick Uplands
A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
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A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
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Caleb Shonk
Ralph Nader was unfairly critical of GM when it came to the Corvair. It wasn't that the Corvair was a defective design so much as it was that drivers didn't know how to handle the vehicle. It was an unconventional design for the time that most people didn't take the time to learn how it would handle. It was actually no more dangerous than any other vehicle in the hands of someone who knew how to handle it.
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Ralph Nader was unfairly critical of GM when it came to the Corvair. It wasn't that the Corvair was a defective design so much as it was that drivers didn't know how to handle the vehicle. It was an unconventional design for the time that most people didn't take the time to learn how it would handle. It was actually no more dangerous than any other vehicle in the hands of someone who knew how to handle it.
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Phillip Baker
Just want to add this, the corvair did not have a flawed suspension, it had a swing arm style suspension very similar to ones used in iconic cars like the porsche 356, VW beetle, and Mercedes Benz 300sl. And it is one of the best handling cars of its time period, Not to Mention one of the first production turbo charged cars. Ps the tire pressures are located on the inside of the glove box.
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Just want to add this, the corvair did not have a flawed suspension, it had a swing arm style suspension very similar to ones used in iconic cars like the porsche 356, VW beetle, and Mercedes Benz 300sl. And it is one of the best handling cars of its time period, Not to Mention one of the first production turbo charged cars. Ps the tire pressures are located on the inside of the glove box.
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