Suicide Brake Levers

Those extension levers that you see on almost every old 10 speed road bike seem to have a bad reputation. I always thought it was because they don't provide as much braking force as the lower brake levers, or maybe it's just because other people think they look stupid. I didn't realize that they might actually be dangerous until I saw this:

That red piece is broken off halfway where the mounting bolt attaches the brake lever to the handlebar. It appears that using the extension piece puts a bending stress on the red cylinder since it attaches to only one side of it. The lower brake lever instead attaches to either end of the cylinder, and in theory it shouldn't put any stress at all on the vulnerable middle part with the hole going though it. Here's the lever put together showing the missing pieces for the extension lever:

In other words, don't rely on the extension pieces in an emergency stop, you're much better off using the lower parts of these brake levers.