Originally Posted By: demarpaint
It amazes me that people could actually think it was somehow the kid's fault. Honda screwed up, it's that simple in my book.
Why does it, "amaze you" so much? There is plenty of blame to go around here. The only thing that makes Honda stand out, is they have the deepest pockets. So that is who everyone will line up against. Because establishing "blame" itself is worthless, unless there is a big payday associated with it.
As unfortunate as this accident was, this kid managed to put himself into a stupid position by being lazy, and got trapped as a direct result. That is not a cruel viewpoint. But rather a factual one. Add to that an irresponsible 911 Operator, along with an inept police department. Who appears to have difficulty finding their a$$ with both hands, and this is the result. How many people have died as a direct result of the Honda Odyssey rear seat design? I'm willing to bet until this kid came along, it was a grand total of none in the over 14 years, and millions of vehicles that have been sold. So just how "dangerous" does that make it?
At some point, when operating ANY piece of machinery, common sense has to kick in. If not, then you shouldn't be operating it. The world cannot be "fool proofed", regardless of how much people are dumbing down. We have the government "protecting us" in some way, by manipulating designs in everything from gas cans to electric kitchen knives. And most everything in between. And what they can't manage to "improve", they either ban, or else try to. And people, both young and old, still manage to find ways to hurt themselves. Applying common sense should always come before placing blame. Especially after something bad happens because you didn't.