General Motors, the advent of "smart sensors" will accompany "smarter airbags." These airbags will not only be located in the steering wheel and the glove box, but on the side of the seats. The airbags will also be smart enough to know whether a passenger airbag should deploy, in case no one is seated there. (GM, Ford rethink safety) Hopefully, the cost will not overshadow the safety devices. . Until that time, drivers will have to continue to use good driving skills.Cost is a major decision when deciding what car to buy. Since the price of insurance is rising, most people want a car that is cost effective when it comes to insurance. Insurance companies actually charge substantially more to insure an airbag-equipped car. The insurance rate for an airbag-equipped car will continue to rise, due to the reports of airbag related deaths. The main reason the insurance is so high for an airbag equipped car is that the cost of replacing a deployed airbag is expensive. The air bags cost nearly 800 dollars to replace. (Doran) A simple fender bender can result in thousands of dollars of medical bills and another thousand to fix the car. Airbags not only cause injury and raise insurance, they also make your car a target. If you have an airbag in your car, a thief can be 200 dollars richer in two minutes. The couple of hundred dollars received by the thieves is more than enough incentive to target them, since they are worth more than most car stereos. A couple of screwdrivers and two minutes of time is all it takes to steal an airbag. (Newman) Quite an incentive for the average thief. The thief has no use for the bags, though. So who buys them? Any repair shop owner that wants to stay competitive, thats who. When stolen bags and sensors are sold illegally to repair shops, the repair shops endanger everybody. Airbags arent easily transferred from one vehicle to another. Sensors might be different or the size of the bag may be improper. People have n...
