Safer cars = bad drivers?

[mashman]

I'm sure it's been discussed elsewhere, but couldn't find it... A car can be made safer for it's occupants and they even have ratings for it... and i always put down bad driving to lack of experience, a momentary lapse of reason etc... but it's getting worse and worse... Whilst you could say that there are more cars on the road today and therefore the number of dickheads will have risen too... i kinda prescribe to a different theory...

Your car is as safe as they can make it, you're fine, you can listen to your stereo in your lazy boy seats and cruise around quite happily on the road whilst all the time knowing that you're more than likely going to sustain minor injuries whilst driving at the speed limit... and that's before you've even bought the thing...

Now contrast that with a bikers first thoughts, what gear should i get to make me safer on the road... i know i'm going to be exposed to the elements, let alone my fellow road users... yet more often than not your first thoughts turn to safety...

I'm sure you can see where i'm going with this... but do you feel safer in a car? I know i do and to a certain extent i relax whilst i'm driving and all because i'm safer... I keep my eyes open, i watch out for anything that moves still, but i certainly feel like i've got less responsibility when driving a car...

Would removing the air bags and safety apparatus from a car culminate in car drivers driving that bit more carefully as they could get hurt???

[Insanity_rules]

I always used to say that abs is included in cages to stop dickheads killing themselves until I had to turn hard left under braking to avoid a nose to tail that happened right in front of me. Safety feature are all good and well but they do turn up the "I can drive like a nob cause I have airbags" factor.

[george formby]

A few years ago some wit said that the best safety aid for a car would be a 6" steel spike on the steering wheel. It would certainly focus the drivers attention away from the phone/meat pie/stereo/passenger/child etc.
I usually feel safer on the bike purely because I am far more focused & I can control the space I ride in easier. The ability to pass meandering drivers rather than be be dictated too by them makes me feel a lot more comfortable.

[SMOKEU]

I find that the worst drivers are the ones driving relatively new vehicles, they think they're invincible with ABS and airbags in every direction.