[SystemSafety] Nissan's new Indian car unsafe

[Matthew Squair]

Perhaps we have less accidents (and also more rules and engineered
 solutions) simply because we're 'safer', e.g more cautious, as a society
and as individuals. We just seem to confuse cause with effect.

If as John Adams argues a developing countries death rate from cars
accidents is essentially independent of the design of the cars or the rules
on the local statute books, then you could argue exactly the same in
reverse about developed countries. Say we filled London with jitneys,
scooters and motorized tri-shaws, if we take John's theory to its logical
conclusion the fatality rate still wouldn't budge.

Matthew Squair

MIEAust, CPEng
Mob: +61 488770655
Email; Mattsquair at gmail.com
Web: http://criticaluncertainties.com

On 8 Nov 2014, at 7:45 pm, Peter Bernard Ladkin <ladkin at rvs.uni-bielefeld.de>
wrote:



On 2014-11-07 21:54 , José Faria wrote:

Sadly enough, rule of law for some people/organizations seams no more than
a getaway for

tremendously stupid acts.


Personally, I wouldn't rush to judgement on the efficacy of such a (to us)
flimsy vehicle.

The most obviously dangerous feature of traffic in many countries is not
the construction of the
vehicles but the carefree driving behavior. This is particularly true in
this vehicle's target market.

There are plenty of people there whose normal mode of transport for
self+spouse+kids+wares+goat is a
small motorcycle. I see many reasons why the occupants would be better off
with four wheels instead
of two and minimal shelter from the environment. The goat would likely be
happier, and the market
wares stay dry when it rains. If you make the vehicle collision-resistant,
then that might well
encourage the driver to be more assertive in the traffic melee (what John
Adams calls risk
homeostasis if I remember rightly) and many of them doing it would render
the roads even riskier for
pedestrians and two-wheeled-vehicle riders than they are at the moment.

As I think Mike Ellims once wrily noted, it has been suggested that a huge
contribution to road
safety anywhere could come from a mandatory sharp spike mounted in the
steering wheel pointing right
at the driver! :-)

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Faculty of Technology, University of Bielefeld,
33594 Bielefeld, Germany
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de




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