I have to respond to the Dear Abby column in the Rocky Mountain News on Monday, April 28 th. I will be emailing DearAbby.com, too - but for any of you who might have read this column and believed it, I need to update you. This letter was from
Still Shaken in Ft Worth and Idon't have a problem with the letter itself.
The author is a woman who said she and her husband were driving on a busy street when a car came racing out of a post office parking lot, and only her husband's fast reflexes saved them from being killed. In the response, Dear Abby says "...While cars and bumpers used to be made of sturdy metal, today they are made of plastic...", implying that metal bumpers were better.
I thought this old idea had been put to rest years ago! Please, repeat after me: When cars and bumpers were made out of metal, the chassis absorbed the impact and transferred it directly to the passengers, turning them into jelly! That was also the time of non-collapsable steering columns that would pierce peoples' chests. There were no SRS systems (airbags) - much less seatbelts/ shoulder restraints. Non-padded dashboards and all the knobs for the dash controls were pointed projections and lethal instruments in a crash.
Now cars are built with computer-designed front and side "crumple zones" and "plastic" panels and bumpers to absorb the impact, allowing the passenger compartment to remain intact, along with its most precious cargo - you and your family! Cars and plastic bumpers are more easily replaced or repaired than your loved ones. (I know I would rather have my car in the shop for three weeks than have my husband in intensive care for three months.)
Thanks to my husband, Rich Ryan, who was an auto-body mechanic for many years, for his assistance with this post.