Car safety my a$$!?

Question

Why do car companies claim they care about the safety and well being of the consumer??? My biggest argument as to why they dont' is this.......the highest posted speed limit in America is 75 mph (correct me if I'm wrong).. then why does my car's spedometer go up to 120 mph, my girlfriends is 110 mph, I had a car that went to 140 mph, and they go up and up from there. WHY?

Okay let me also add for the people who say your car doesnt' go as fast as your spedometer, it does. I personally have driven 125 mph in a volkswagan passat, if I had crashed into something I would have died instantly, or slowly and painfully. There is no circumstance where driving over even 90 mph is safe, at all.

IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Common sense dictates....yada yada ya.......Where was common sense when the car was made to go 150 mph????? Most of you are just too dense to understand the question, but what did I expect, you are people after all.

Answer 1

We had a discussions at the station related to this....why not put speed limiters on all cars restricting them to 75 or 80????

Answer 2

1. Safety is relative. In the 1950s, hitting a tree at 30 MPH was a virtual death sentence. Today your car is totalled, but you'll most likely walk away with no injury what so ever.

2. The highest posted limit is 80 MPH (some rural interstates in TX). The highest legal limit is unspecified. In Montana, there is no legal limit during daylight hours. The cops have a lot of leeway, but if you're on a vacant highway in good weather and have control of your vehicle you should be OK at even 120MPH.

3. What your speedo reads is meaningless. Mine goes to 140, but my car struggles past 115. In the 1980s, speedos were limited to 85 MPH. Not sure if it was the law or auto makers fear of regulation, but most vehicles would easily exceed 85 MPH. Most likely reason for tossing that bit of idiocy was a few drivers successfully defending dangerous driving citations since they were "only" driving 85 MPH, according to the speedo.

4. The primary cause of death on the highways is not the cars, but the loose nuts behind the wheel. No amount of safety "features" can defend against that in a free and open society.

Answer 3

Who cares if yours or your girlfriend's speedometer go up to anything. That doesn't mean squat. It's a number printed on a dial to get you to think the car goes fast so they can charge you more for the car. Oldest trick in the book.

Message sent to me from iheartsillee:
From: iheartjessilee

Subject: spedomoter

Message: It's not just the spedometer, I have driven 120 mph and faster, so yes the car does go that fast, dumbshit.

Reply message from me:

You are a freakin' moron, ifartjessillee, asking the question you ask about safety if you feel you need to say this. Get some medication for your compulsive lying.

Answer 4

I guess the best analogy is this a women buys an RV with all the bells and whistles and goes on a long trip... she noticed it has a thingawhachincalit known as "cruise control" unbeknownst to her while down the long stretch of highway going 75 mph she decides to put it in "cruise control" and walks back to the refrigerator to make a sandwich... I guess some people think "pilot control" is the same thing. Point being just because the car's speedometer goes to 140 it does not mean you have to drive that fast.

Answer 5

because people can race cars at the track, and also what if your on the highway doing 75 and something happens where you have to speed up to aviod a accident and you can only do the speed limit. what if your doing the speed limit and you get a call that someones in the house wit your wife and kids fuc the speed limit you gotta get your as* home (or to the hospital) see common sence is the best safty feature ever invented and i can have a car that goes light speed if i never take it above 75 except where i can safly do lightspeed theres no problem. i could be on a winding road where the max possible speed limt is 35 and try to do my max of 75 and still kill myself. So then you would need a parking lot(5mph) car a neighbor hood car(25mph) a road car(50) and a highway car (75mph)

Answer 6

Sorry, Boston... Montana did away with their unlimited speed limit several years ago... Mostly because of too many idiots trying to kill themselves in cars that weren't safe at any speed. The highest legal speed in Montana is now 75 MPH.

The 85MPH speedometers were implemented by the same law that imposed the national 55MPH speed limits back in 1973. Automobile manufacturers complained so much about lost revenues that the feds allowed them to go back to 120 MPH speedometers, and now to pretty much anything they want.

Answer 7

Are you going to listen to music at maximum volume and either blow your speakers/hurt your ears just because your sound system can play music that loud???? Use some common sense...

Car companies claims are valid in that they constantly try to improve the safety of cars by adding crumple zones, airbags, abs etc.

The fact that your car can drive well over the speed limit does not mean that they encourage you to do so. Speed limits are there for a reason, and if people choose not to obey them, they have to face the consequences.

In many instances it is driver error that cause the most horrific accidents, and if I see people who allow their children to stand on the front seat without safety belts, I feel like pulling them over and lecturing them!

Answer 8

You are obviously a dumb teenager with no concern to others or yourself. Speeding kills, not only you, but innocent people. You really need to grow up and be responsible behind the wheel, your not too bright by what I see and read. Auto manufacturers vary speedometers by vehicle horsepower, a normal cars speedometer only goes up to 110 vs a mustang or corvette at 160, this doesn't give you the right to drive that fast just cause your speedometer says thats how fast it goes. Grow up!

Answer 9

My son asked me why my car speedometer goes so high (140). I think it's because the car manufacturers want you to think your car can go really fast. At 90 mph my car feels like it's going to fall apart; it could never even do 100. But I don't want to drive super fast so it doesn't matter to me.

Answer 10

They claim they are about safety because anything else would be committing fiscal suicide as the soccer moms wouldn't buy them and the safety nazi attorneys would have them buried in litigation.

They build in some degree of performance because anything else would be committing fiscal suicide as bragging rights and performance have been an integral part of car ownership since the second car was sold.