Text 4264, 59 rader
Skriven 2010-02-01 12:19:08 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 4232 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Tata
============
Ward Dossche wrote to Robert Bashe on Monday February 01 2010 at 10:54:

WD>>> No heating (not necessary in India perhaps, but here?)

RB>> I have my doubts about that, as this particular point would make a
RB>> car unsaleable in our climate.

WD> The "basic" model does not have heating ... you have to go to an
WD> upgraded model ... a more expensive model that is.

Depends on the price whether that's interesting or not.

WD>>> No SIPS.

RB>> ? Computer system?

WD> Side Impact Protection System ... when you're in a halfway serious
WD> collision with a Tata your chances of survival are minimal.

Jeez, Ward... up to the time I was around 55, nobody had ever heard of such
stuff. And the Fiat 500 (in the same size and power class) was a popular car
not only in Italy, but also in Germany. No disc brakes, no airbags, no SIPS, no
safety belts even. But if you drive reasonably ("defensive driving") that
wasn't and isn't a problem.

I sometimes get the frightening impression that people nowadays rely 100% on
technical features to take the risk out of driving, and thus pay less attention
to their driving than they should... "Nothing can happen anyway, so I can drive
anyway I want". Too much safety equipment can, in my own opinion, be
counterproductive since it lulls people into a false sense of security.

Oh, I might add that most accidents are frontal or angled collisions, not side
collisions. And that if you really want to prevent injuries due to such things,
you'd have to ban things like trucks and SUVs, since even my middle-sized Mazda
wouldn't stand a chance in a collision with one of those.

RB>> ;-) _Any_ car is criticized by some environmental terrorist
RB>> organization for even existing.

WD> Please research the IPCC ... it's hardly a terrorist organisation.

Not in the sense it sends out bombers (I assume), but in the sense of
environmental extremism. Shake off your old connections with Greenpeace and
turn on your sense of critical analysis. There's a lot of absolute _crap_ being
spewed by so-called "environmentalists" and lapped up by the media, politics
and uninformed laypersons. One shouldn't take every claim at face value.

WD> To me it reminds me of the old Messerschmidt vehicles.

Except that they were much smaller, had only three wheels and could only
transport two persons max.

As already noted, I reserve judgement. It'll be interesting to see whether the
Tata can become a commercial success here.

Cheers, Bob

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