@bankhaunter wrote:Before you can use commonsense, you need information, if you don't know smoking or drinking is harmful to the unborn baby, you don't know it's commonsense not to do it.
RB: My point exactly, so here, we do concur.
RB: Leaded paints were not the problem, you have to ingest an awful lot of lead, over a very long period, to become ill,
BH: But not much has to be ingested to cause mild or medium mental retardation,
RB: That is as maybe, but there was virtually no danger, because of blankets, and covers etc., and your first point applies here too "if you don't know that lead paint is harmful, then you don't know it's common sense not to use or manufacture it."
RB: As for childproof lids, well they had something better in those days, it was called common sense. Medicine and harmful substances were kept out of reach, and the problem was solved.
BH: So it was just too bad for those children who were made ill or died because of a lack of commonsense by an adult or sometimes a small lapse of concentration, mustn't introduce a simple way of avoiding that as it would just be mollycoddling.
How on earth can you say that relying on commonsense was better than a simple method of avoidance?
If you were having an operation in hospital, would you be happy to know that you were relying solely on commonsense to still be alive afterwards or would you prefer that safety procedures were in place?
RB: Nope, you are replying out of context, read again, childproof lids were not around in those days, and therefore commonsense was of course vital, it still is today, but with all the increases in child safety that are around, and which I heartily support, tragedies still happen.
RB: seatbelts became a necessity because of the increased speed performance of cars, and the increase of the number of cars on our roads.BH: Nonsense, seatbelts were introduced after research showed their effectiveness at reducing death and injury at all speeds, 10 - 20mph was enough to put a driver's face through a windscreen.
http://www.roadsafetyobservatory.com/HowEffective/vehicles/seat-belts
RB: Yes of course, but research only started when cars got numerous, faster, and more dangerous, resulting in more traffic/road accidents and fatalities.
RB: There was absolute shame, and the Parents of these juveniles had to live with it.
BH: I can assure you that not everybody felt shame, not all parents were fine upstanding citizens
RB: Of course I agree, just as you must agree that not nearly every parent filled the juvenile halls, or courts, as you said earlier, protesting their offsprings innocence. etc., etc.,
RB:I'd say it depends on a lot more then social class. Accidental deaths may have halved, (you say that, and I haven't managed to get any data to support or deny it)...
http://www.poverty.org.uk/23/index.shtml
BH: It would seem that the golden haze of nostalgia is rather apt to cloud minds. ( by the way, you only printed a very small part of my quote there, BH)
RB: Is that a statement intended for me, or you? Because, I've lived through some of those days (though Tommy can give me nearly 2 decades) and I don't hanker for them, they were tough, compared to today.
Truly excellent debate BH, I've enjoyed this discussion, and the exchange of views. 
