I find it amazing that even someone who is educated enough to write opinion pieces for Slate thinks that they can breeze through life without ever thinking for themselves and rely on everyone else to insure their own safety and well being. Also, just because there have been lawsuits in the past which back you up only proves that there are more people out there like that than anything else. It does not prove the presence of an actual flaw or defect in the product (Think about the old woman who put her cat in the microwave, or the person who sued McDonalds because her coffee was too hot!). If you would pause for just a few seconds and think about what you are doing and then be willing to accept the consequences of your actions, you would have the common sense to know that when you are reclined in your car seat and the seat belt is not touching your body in the same places as when you are sitting upright that you may be putting yourself at risk if you get into an accident. I have not checked my own car manual recently but I am pretty sure that it does not warn me about driving head on into a wall at 30mph. Does that mean that if i do that i can sue them for not warning me about the fact that i could be seriously injured if not killed by doing that?

While i do wish that there was more corporate ethical responsibility out there, you are not so naive as to think that a global corporation whose only interest and responsibility is the bottom line is going to go down without a fight! There are many, many potential dangers out there but i don't think that this seat-belt issue warrants this kind of vilification of the auto manufacturers. You must remember that a vehicle is an inherently dangerous thing, just like a chainsaw. The intended purpose of a vehicle is to transport the human body at speeds the human body is not supposed to travel at and if you as a driver or passenger does not respect that then you have no one to blame but yourself.

If you would like to vilify any major industry for misleading the public i suggest looking at the pharmaceutical companies. There is one area which falls outside of the common sense rules. Unless you are a doctor, you have no real knowledge of the intricacies of drugs and their effects on the human body and you must trust your doctor and your pharmaceutical company then they tell you that what you put into your body is safe. The recent Vioxx issue is a perfect example. You cannot have expected the victims of Vioxx to have used any common sense to know that the drug that there were prescribed by their doctors could potentially kill them.