Date: 17 Sep 2002 12:06:25 GMT From: davehinznopsamcop.net Subject: Re: Warning about sticking ignition switches in some models
Someone who looks an awful lot like Kenneth S. <nimrodnopsams.com> wrote: > I've heard the safety argument before, but I'm very skeptical. If that > is recognized to be a safer place for the ignition switch, why does no > other manufacturer put it there? I've responded to two calls in the last decade, as an EMT, where the patients have had knee injuries directly related to their keys. Anecdotal evidence and all that, but it's a stated reason of Saab's, solving what I have personally sen to be a real problem. > Furthermore, if there is a recognized > problem with the typical location on the steering column, ...I believe that the GM cars like this, were (are?) the easiset to steal, but I can't find the stats right now. THe thiefs would smash the "collar", and then the lock mechanism can be removed, and the car started without the keys. > then the > ignition switch could be placed on the dashboard, which is where it was > on the Chevrolet Malibu that I rented recently when my 900SE was being > repaired. Not real ergonomic up there, and I would imagine they stopped doing that in around 1966/67 for a reason... > The interesting question to me is WHY the ignition switch continues to > be where it is, and what this says about Saab engineering (and > customers). Key positioning appears to have all the hallmarks of a Saab > symbol, without any rational basis. No doubt I'll be excommunicated for > saying so. Without any "rational" basis, that you will acknowledge. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this the third time or so that this same exchange has gone on? You can disagree with the several logical reasons Saab has stated, but for you to dismiss it as 'irrational' and "ominous" is, well, a bit hard to understand. Dave Hinz