Unsafe At Any Speed by Ralph Nader?

Answer 1

The subject of Nader's book was certain safety issues very common to cars of that era, such as hard metal or sharp edged surfaces in automotive interiors or solid steering columns which increased chances of injury in a crash, and he pointed out exterior design that might cause visibility issues or in one extreme the sharp fins on cars that had impaled a few extremely unlucky motorcyclists who had crashed into the rear of such designs. Cars were all about inventive style and it was a fun period of great excitement over dream cars and things perceived has futuristic. No one thought of the need for air bags or even shoulder belts, even seat belts were optional into the 1960s. Rockets and aircraft excited the buyers of the era, not safety, so that's what sold cars.

Ralph Nader gets far too much credit for killing the Corvair and not enough credit for prolonging its life. The Corvair was not very successful as an economy car when compared to rival Ford and its Falcon, but soon Corvair became a sporty car with bucket seats and stylish details, BEFORE it got a better rear suspension design that silenced all critics about its early swing axle design. Ford saw that it could reskin the Falcon into the Mustang, which could offer V8 power that Corvair couldn't provide; ironically the fantastic all aluminum GM V8 was sold to Rover about a year before the redesigned Corvair came out in 1965. By then everyone wanted a Mustang and the great 2nd generation Vair got crushed in the stampede. GM rushed out a countermeasure to the Stang, the Camaro, so they really wanted to kill off the Corvair in 1967 but that would look like Ralph was right, so they kept making it through the Spring of 69.

The Corvair Society of America has photos of Mr. Nader sitting behind the wheel of a Corvair, so that shows he can't be all that bad and that Corvair lovers and Ralph are pretty good sports about the whole messy affair. Nader would never buy or drive any car, feeling that it would appear he endorsed the car as having the level of safety he found acceptable. So he rode in cabs often, which is really ridiculous because one would suspect driving any car would be safer than risking your life in a taxi!

Answer 2

"Unsafe At Any Speed" is a book written by consumer advocate Ralph Nader in 1965. The book focuses on automobile safety and criticizes the design and safety of cars produced by American manufacturers at the time. Nader's book played a significant role in bringing about changes in automotive safety regulations.