The Sawstop technology hasn't been around long enough to be fully vetted.
It doesn't just cost $100 if you accidentally trigger the device. The cost is the price of the Sawstop cartridge, and the price of your saw blade. Good carbide circular saw blades can cost between $100 and $200, which rings the cost of tripping the device to $200 to $300.
There have been a number of complaints about the Sawstop accidentally tripping due to wood that was too wet, or metal in the wood such as staples or brads, or a coating on the wood that may be conductive, or for reasons that can't be explained. How long do you think a saw that costs $200 to $300 each time the safety device is tripped is going to continue to be used. With older tablesaws the safety devices could be such a pain, users would just toss them in a corner.
There have been safer saws with riving knifes manufactured in Europe for decades. Inca was one brand. The Inca saws were sold in North America from at least the late 1970s, and the design and brand were around for at least a decade or more before then. Some of the safety features on the Sawstop saws are supposedly similar to the Inca saws. Given how long the designs were around I doubt there would have been patent issues using the designs, and they would have made saws safer, and easier to use.
Osorio, the guy who lost his fingers, in the tablesaw lawsuit, wasn't injured because the saw was unsafe. He was injured because he had no safety training, or other training at all with a tablesaw. His employer hadn't trained him with the saw or verified he knew how to safely use it. Osorio had removed all the safety guards, and the rip fence, and was freehand ripping a piece of flooring. There was nothing safe in the way he was using the saw, and if anyone should have gotten sued it was his employer.
There has since been another lawsuit involving the lack of a flesh sensing safety system, and that lawsuit went in favor of Ryobi.
http://www.woodmagazine.com/blogs/w...des-with-ryobi-in-tablesaw-liability-lawsuit/
The issue of Risk compensation should also be considered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation
There are plenty of ways to injure yourself when using power tools, and even hand tools. It's usually better to properly train people to the dangers inherent in the various tools than simply expect some safety system to compensate for a lack of training and expect it to work.
Has anyone checked what would happen if a piece of clothing, like a lightweight baggy shirt, got caught by the blade and pulled your arm in.
