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I think we lose sight sometimes of the positive advances in safety, especially if you focus on some of the mis-steps, because of the legendary Volvo focus on safety. The cars only that were close to the same ratings in the eighties were Mercedes. Our cars have safety baked in that was at least a decade ahead of its time in '75...probably two decades.
The airbag from a 1990 or later car will accomplish much of what you say for normal stature people. Lacking a telescoping steering wheel and having a hi-energy first generation bag, my wife would have been one of the ones with a severely broken nose and possible other injuries (depending on how high she had the seat up). In almost every case, still preferable to a severe TBI and a neck fracture.
Modern two-stage airbags, explosive pre-tensioners and the tendency to smaller, more plentiful airbags have mitigated almost all of the negatives of airbags. As long as they are used as a supplemental restraint, I am all for it. Nothing chaps my hide more that hearing folks spout the BS that with these airbags, you don't even need your seat belt anymore (get this from my cop father-in-law all the time).
Lastly, everyone remember that the best safety equipment can be the squishy organic bit behind the wheel. It also can be the biggest hazard. Always strive to be the former and not the latter.
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