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I oppose seat belt laws, but I think you should still wear one.
I think seat belt laws were the one of the first step towards the rapidly growing Nanny State. Sure, there were other laws, but that was the first large scale "for your own good" law that spread to virtually everywhere.
I do think that you should still wear seat belts as a lot of fatal car accidents could have been prevented by wearing one, but that doesn't mean it should be the law (at least regarding those over 16 or adult age).
I'm starting this thread after a lengthy conversation with a police officer today. How do you posters feel about seatbelt laws? Personally, I feel like it gives officers too much authority. Nobody will be harmed, but yourself for not wearing a seatbelt. Shouldn't there be public awareness campaigns rather than law enforcement of the issue?
Yes, I think there should be seat belt laws, and they should be enforced (there's no point in having any laws if they aren't going to be enforced).
If the law is on the books and the police enforce the law, that is not giving officers "too much authority." An example of too much authority would be a law saying that if an officer stopped a driver for not wearing a seat belt, the officer could choose to issue a warning, issue a traffic citation, or simply shoot the idiot.
Even if there's only the driver in the car and s/he is not wearing a seat belt, others are harmed if that person gets into an accident and is seriously injured. The harm is financial, in auto insurance premiums and - in the case of the idiot driver lacking health insurance - health insurance premiums for the rest of us.
There are public awareness campaigns. The people who are likely to get behind the wheel of a car and drive without using a seat belt aren't likely to be smart enough to even know there are public awareness campaigns.
Seat belt use should be common sense. There shouldn't have to be seat belt laws and enforcement of those laws. But common sense is in short supply these days, whereas idiots are plentiful.
Many of our freedoms, have been turned into privileges, granted back to us for a fee.
It is the only way the Kings can take the gold back from the peasants, keeping them in total control with a boot on their throats.
Yes, I think there should be seat belt laws, and they should be enforced (there's no point in having any laws if they aren't going to be enforced).
Even if there's only the driver in the car and s/he is not wearing a seat belt, others are harmed if that person gets into an accident and is seriously injured. The harm is financial, in auto insurance premiums and - in the case of the idiot driver lacking health insurance - health insurance premiums for the rest of us.
This is the same argument being made to the health-care law and as more of this continues, the more stripping of your rights as an individual to make choices becomes. A slippery slope is no joke. If a person wants to sign away their freedoms, I'm all for it. It shouldn't be asked of others who don't.
There are public awareness campaigns. The people who are likely to get behind the wheel of a car and drive without using a seat belt aren't likely to be smart enough to even know there are public awareness campaigns.
If they were smart enough to pass both the written test and the driving test (driving without a license is against the law) then they are smart enough to understand seat-belt safety. It would be very simple. Just add a short addition to the written test that is a paragraph or two with some big photos of the before-and-after consequences of not wearing a seat belt.
We dont have a seatbelt law here in NH. I was in an accident 6 yrs ago and did not have one on. Got thrown to the passenger seat and the car that hit me came right thru the drivers seat. If I had one on I would have been dead.
Lets not forget why there are seat belt laws. Back in the 80,s the DOT told auto makers that unless they could get 25 states to pass seat belt they would have to start putting airbags in vehicles. Because of the added expense they did not want to so they lobbied state legislature to get seat belt laws passed. Then the market demanded airbags anyways.
I wonder how many deaths can be attributed to : (a.) "passenger burned to death while trapped in seatbelt" vs. or (b.) "passenger's skull slammed against windshield or thrown from car and into the path of a another car, because he was not buckled in?"
Or lost control and went head-on into another car killing all passengers.
Oh I would guess ONE vs 15 or 20 thousand over a ten year period.
I'm starting this thread after a lengthy conversation with a police officer today. How do you posters feel about seatbelt laws? Personally, I feel like it gives officers too much authority. Nobody will be harmed, but yourself for not wearing a seatbelt. Shouldn't there be public awareness campaigns rather than law enforcement of the issue?
No, I do not. People ignore public awareness campaigns. Seat belt laws, like helmet laws, protect American taxpayers from stupid people incurring horrendous debts in medical care and dependents' disability. Personally, I think anyone injured from an accident and not wearing either should forfeit their medical benefits, and if they have dependents they should be charged with neglect.
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