Mark Wilson

We did a very quick runthrough of what the debate would look like this week in class and I drew a ‘quick conclusion’ based on our ‘quick discussion’.

Pros
Helps keep consumers safe from some of the potential risks associated with various products (ie. helmets for bikes, seatbelts for cars)

Cons
Basically ‘forces’ consumers to act safe, not allowing them the freedom to choose how they want to live or use products

Conclusion
While my initial thoughts on Consumer Protection are that it’s stupid to ‘force’ people to be safe and use a product a certain way, it’s also highly beneficial.
Yes, mandatory bike helmets has us buying extra pieces of equipment and spending more money to use a product, but it’s also keeping us safer in the long run.

We’re going to use the automobile seatbelt as an example. History tells us that we obviously won’t die off from not using seatbelts. Yes, most of us are still here even though we weren’t forced to use them, but the circumstances were also different.
1. There were no where near as many cars on the road in the past – this market has grown from only people with money having cars to virtually everybody owning a car at some point.
2. Cars were not as fast before – Max speeds on cars were considerably lower in history, and an accident at a ‘slow’ speed isn’t always the killer, it’s the highspeed collisions that kill. Therefore, with a slower speed and slower accident, we have less use for a seatbelt and less accidents in general.
3. Road conditions – Now that we have improved road conditions you’d think we’re better off… right? Doubtful. All it does is make us feel safer going faster and at a higher risk of losing control.
My point here is that we’ve increased the cars on the road, raised their max speed, and made it easier for us to drive fast. All these create higher accident potential, therefore making seatbelts a key safety feature.

Looking at Consumer Protection from the physical safety standpoint, while at times frustrating and seemingly ‘too much’, has helped promote safety of the use of everyday products.

*Note: It has also increased safety in product use outside of ‘physical’, but I have focused on this area in specific.

M