Freedom and rights are funny things. Take
this article on dentists and whitening. The FTC is removing restrictions for people do to business. The NC Board of Dental Examiners argues that the FTC is interfering with its right to regulate this part of the industry. So more government involvement here means less regulation on small businesses...which is more freedom...but more government involvement is interfering with an industry's right to regulate itself, which is less freedom. Makes my head hurt. I can't deal with a reality that can't be described with soundbites and simple slogans
Do I agree with forcing every manufacturer to make their saws safer? I don't know. It would be easier if Steve Gass didn't own the patents or SawStop company, and was just a concerned father whose son lost two digits in a tragic accident. Then he'd just be another overly protective parent, and we could bring the discussion down to what this is all about: Money. Saws with flesh-sensing technology cost more. No doubt about it. But if you add up the cost of all those lost fingers (loss of productivity, workers comp, permanent disability, health care insurance), that can't be cheap either.
I do think that the tablesaw is in a category by himself. Contractors, floor installers, carpenters, handymen etc. all use them, often in less than ideal circumstances since they have to take the saw to the job site. Band saws, jointers, shapers etc. have a much, much smaller market since they're (more) specific to woodworking.
And I definitely agree there is such a thing as personal responsibility. Don't stick the chisel in your eye. I don't care if it didn't have a warning label. But where do you draw the line? I have to buy aspirin in a bottle that's hard to open because a child may get to it. Is this a sensible precaution, or are we condoning negligent parenting? Are people now deliberately leaving pill bottles around because they rely on the safety of the cap? Granted, the example isn't entirely fair, since the cost of the new bottle design is only marginally higher. Still, given the size of the pharmaceutical industry, if it's half a cent per bottle, we're still talking millions.
I do worry about what might happen if the technology does become required. The small benchtop saws would probably disappear, since it's unlikely they can handle the impact of the brake. We might have more people rigging upside-down circular saws to avoid having to buy a much larger table saw, cutting off more fingers... :saw::saw:
Or we could all get Euro sliders instead! :slap: