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Comment by throwaway0a5e | Hacker News Reader

These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph and the drivers often don't use seat belts.

Spending an extra hundred bucks per vehicle for a nice N-way adjustable seat or spending engineering hours making the seat-belts more convenient will have far greater benefits than throwing random safety technologies at it.

The previous models were designed in the 1980s. All 1980s work vehicles are/were death traps by modern clipboard warrior standards.

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> These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph

That speed is quite deadly with zero crumple zone.

No. It's really not. Unless you're a frail elderly person (not the post office's hiring pool, this should go without saying). If you're wearing a seat-belt that's an "I'm sore the next day" speed.

If you're not wearing a seat belt then you're going through the windshield and it doesn't matter how the vehicle is equipped.

Yes, it actually is. Modern crumple zones on US market passenger cars are designed for 40mph crashes. The IIHS performs crash tests at speeds faster than any other crash worthiness program on the planet: 40mph. Every (routine) crash test video you've ever seen was at 40mph or less.

> These vehicles rarely make it above 40mph and the drivers often don't use seat belts.

A crumple zone is going to still help in that case (40mph head on with another car at 40mph is significant, crumple zones in both vehicles would help both occupants).

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