Holy crap, could we possibly have any more old men arguing that they didn't have seat belts when they were growing up, and they lived through it, so kids today don't need them either? Of course, the people who died in car accidents but would have lived but for airbags and seatbelts--the counter-examples--generally don't post on the internet. Funny how that works, isn't it?
And for the record, all this "cars don't need safety features, and anyone who thinks they do is a sissy" crap sure comes off as callous to those of us who have lost friends or family members in automobile accidents. If you don't want airbags, good for you, but it's been proven time and time again that they DO save lives. Particularly given the increased congestion and increased speeds on modern roads. So you have no right to criticize me for actually taking those statistics into account when choosing my own car. I don't judge your choice of automobiles; you have no right to judge mine.
For those who care, over 43,000 Americans were killed in traffic accidents in 2005 (don't know the statistics for Canada). That's a dozen September 11s. The good news is, fatalities per mile traveled are down 18% from 1994, the earliest date where these records are available. So cars are getting a lot safer.
http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/