Reno, I think the GFCI was a problem in search of a product.
Lots of people get shocked, deadly or not.
The AFCI was a product in search of a problem. The number of fires it might stop vs the cost is pretty lopsided.
I think someone here actually ran those numbers.
One of my long time neighbors was with Cuttler Hammer developing this thing and "arc signature was the stumbling block they never really got over. It only sees some of the arcs some of the time and may not really see the "problem" arc.
C/H was the main driving force in getting these into the NEC and I think it was rushed.
U/L ended up writing the standard based on the capability instead of starting with the standard as the design criteria.
