Mexicans buying unsafe vehicles: Automakers able to drop safety features
Mexicans buying unsafe vehicles
Automakers able to drop safety features
Dec. 1, 2013 1:31 AM
Written by
Adriana Gomez Licon
Associated Press
RAMOS ARIZPE, MEXICO — In Mexico’s booming auto industry, the cars rolling off assembly lines may look identical, but how safe they are depends on where they’re headed.
Vehicles destined to stay in Mexico or go south to the rest of Latin America carry a code signifying there’s no need for antilock braking systems, electronic stability control or more than two air bags, if any, in its basic models.
If the cars will be exported to the United States or Europe, however, they must meet stringent safety laws, including as many as six to 10 air bags, and stability controls that compensate for slippery roads and other road dangers, say engineers who have worked in Mexico-based auto factories.
Because the price of the two versions of the cars is about the same, the dual system buttresses the bottom lines of automakers such as General Motors and Nissan. But it’s being blamed for a surge in auto-related fatalities in Mexico, where laws require virtually no safety protections.
More:
http://www.tennessean.com/viewart/20131201/NEWS08/312010092/Mexicans-buying-unsafe-vehicles
= new reply since forum marked as read
the cars sold here wouldn't be any different from those being sold in Mexico.
Right-wingers would find ways to make their own cars safe enough, and it would be "every man for himself" for everyone else. The market would dictate, just as they insist, what will sell, and what won't.
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