Depending on the age of the car your skull could also be cored by the steering column like an apple.
In the 50's the industry propaganda, parroted by bought and paid for regulators, was that all people involved in an automobile collision were irresponsible drivers deserving of death and disfigurement. And especially so for the colored ones, they probably drove recklessly after stealing them. You can't trust the lot of 'em.
Absolutely agreed, as someone who's driven around in an 80s deathtrap car quite a bit.
However, it IS unfortunate that we've shifted the risk to people AROUND those vehicles instead of the driver. People drive around in their noise-insulated, airbag-laden tanks these days and they're definitely safer. But it's unfortunate that pedestrians and bicyclists around those cars are actually more likely do die in the event of a crash now because vehicles are so ridiculously tall and overbuilt.
If you ask me, I'd rather that driving was more dangerous for the driver than people around the vehicle. They're the ones taking the risk when they drive poorly. It's unfortunate that the externalities are imposed on those around them instead, now.
Have you ever looked at 1950s electrical wiring? How about electrical appliances from the 1950s?
We used to have Christmas tree lights from the 1950s that were passed down from our grandparents. Two unshielded wires and no fuses, we burned out many an outlet and tripped the breaker every year.
The original claim was house fires in the 1980s of electrical origin. That stock would generally have been built since the 1950s (largely 1960--1990, for the decade of the 1980s).
Candes, fireplaces, cigarettes, and cooking stand out in my memory.
A current industry report puts cooking as the greatest risk, followed by heating equipment. Electrical ranks third:
> The difference between a car right now and a car 30 years ago is that you can now play angry birds on a tablet.
Energy efficiency and fuel economy have made massive gains. Materials are stronger and lighter. Batteries last ages compared to 30 years ago.