On 14 Sep, 13:23, "Bert Willing"
wrote:

"Ian" wrote in message

I don;t wear a
parachute when flying myself: I prefer "not hitting
things" to "trying to survive after hitting things"...

I assume that you also don't wear the safety belt in your car, and have
disabled the airbags...

I wear a safety belt because it's there and easy. On the other hand,
when I delivered a friend's Daimler Dart a few hundred miles last
year, I didn;t wear a seat belt because it doesn't have them.

None of my cars have airbags fitted and I do not wish a car which has
them. In seatbelt wearing cultures - unlike the US - the benefits are
marginal at best, and I have absolutely no faith that these things
will remain stable and reliable as the cars age.

Did you know that there is now good evidence that the thick A-posts
required for side airbags reduced visibility to such an extent that
the accident rate is noticeably increased. The casualty rate too,
because an airbag does little for the pedestrian you hit ...

My glider has a parachute. It is of unknown make and unknown type and
has not, to my certain knowledge, been serviced for twelve years. I
barely even trust it as a cushion on the grass. Sure, I could go out
and buy a nice new one, but it's just not high on my list of things to
spend good money on. If others want to buy parachutes - fine. Their
decision. And mine.

Lots of clubs use parachutes all the time in two seaters, even for
winch circuits. They are utterly useless for those flights, since
there simply isn't time to get out and use them if something does
happen. So the only result is that the parachutes get chucked around
more and the chances of damage leading to a malfunction if/when they
ever are needed is increased...

Ian

PS Do you ever drive at more than 50kph?

Finally ...