When I was a kid in the mid '60s, I thought it was the coolest thing to see the cross-form drag chutes blossom at the end of a top fuel run at the drag strip.
There was a really big hill behind our house, and we would coast down that thing on our bikes. We'd be traveling at a pretty good clip at the bottom. Some of the kids wouldn't be able to stop and would dump thier bikes, incurring lots of road rash. I made a pair of drag chutes for my bike and "dumped the laundry" at the bottom of the hill. Did it really slow me down? I doubt it, but my buddies thought it was pretty cool looking.
RIP Bill. Thank you for saving so many lives.