It’s good that the industry does the right thing sometimes. It’s also good to have strong consumer protections when they don’t do the right thing.
The bill that required backup cameras came out in 2008 but didn’t fully go into effect until 2018 in order to give carmakers time. (At least) Some of what you’ve attributed to “becoming a standard” is due in part to automakers anticipating the regulation and another part of it being social norms as more and more cars have them so consumers ask for them.
I bought a car circa 2009-2010 as did a bunch of my friends (graduated college in 2008). We bought some of the most popular cars of the day, and zero of them had backup cameras.
I appreciate what you’re saying, that companies do things due to norms and markets (demand). I’m suggesting they also do things due to laws and architecture (Lessig, Code 2.0) and that we cannot rely on only one of the four to protect ourselves.
Sure but if a luxury car is safer than any other car it’s not because it was regulated to be. The laws don’t discriminate.
It’s because they have to sell higher priced cars by making appealing features and that includes safety. And then the features make their way to the lower end cars.
So having a market where rich people can buy greater safety in the end gives greater safety to everyone.
> Sure but if a luxury car is safer than any other car it’s not because it was regulated to be.
"Sure but" but what? I see zero people commenting on an article titled "Safety Today is a Luxury" arguing that the only reason luxury cars are safer is due to regulation.
>So having a market where rich people can buy greater safety in the end gives greater safety to everyone.
I think this is a great pipeline, and and it's worked really well when it's been coupled with a followup: strong consumer protection regulations that make sure the best features are in all the cars.
The bill that required backup cameras came out in 2008 but didn’t fully go into effect until 2018 in order to give carmakers time. (At least) Some of what you’ve attributed to “becoming a standard” is due in part to automakers anticipating the regulation and another part of it being social norms as more and more cars have them so consumers ask for them.
I bought a car circa 2009-2010 as did a bunch of my friends (graduated college in 2008). We bought some of the most popular cars of the day, and zero of them had backup cameras.
I appreciate what you’re saying, that companies do things due to norms and markets (demand). I’m suggesting they also do things due to laws and architecture (Lessig, Code 2.0) and that we cannot rely on only one of the four to protect ourselves.