How'd that work out for SawStop? A tech that makes table saws basically safe by stopping the blade immediately on contact with water (simplified description). The inventory tried to license the tech, then tried to get regulatory agencies interested. He never had any luck. I imagine his licensing terms were too much; he ended up making his own line of saws which are substantially more expensive than the unsafe competition.

I'm sure there are tons of other examples. Outside of highly regulated areas, improving safety usually plays second fiddle to lowering price.

There was new development in the SawStop story in 2024, their release of a key patent to the public for use by other manufacturers in preventing amputations:

https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/CORT-Statement-on-Table-Saw...