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Oh well if you are only worried about not being killed, and are cool with being severely injured instead, well then I guess you are in the clear. Have fun driving without a seat belt kiddo.
I have a sister recovering from the worst type of brain injury possible. She could not even move last year when we got to the hospital and for a week she still could've died. They never expected her to be more than a vegetable.
She's been having to learn everything all over again. She still can't talk or walk without help. She was wearing a seat belt.
Thanks for wishing me luck. It shows what compassion you have for other drivers.
She was a beautiful actress, writer, and designer.
I honestly can't believe I've wasted this much time debating with you on this issue. With that said, I'm going to give you one more response, and then ignore you for the remainder of my post on this thread. I need to get back to work.
Your arguments so far, all 34 pages worth, have been that #1 seat belts improve safety, and that #2 not wearing a seat belt raises insurance premiums which is passed on to the citizens.
Everybody has agreed seat belts improve safety. There has not been one poster who has said that seat belts don't make you safer. However, what some have argued is that in ALL instances seat belts do not make you safer and that even if seat belts make you safer, its an issue of personal safety and does not need government regulation which requires money and time for enforcement.
I posted articles previously that showed how some people have been saved by not wearing a seat belt. I also shared personal stories as well as several other posters. In the case of those who have been saved by NOT wearing a seat belt, it is not unreasonable for that person to be granted the right to choose whether they should wear their seat belt in the future. It's not the government's place to protect that person, from themself.
Since a seat belt is not ideal for EVERY type of crash, it should not be mandated (by state or federal government) to wear a seat belt. Child seat belt laws and laws for minors are understandable because the person is not deemed to be of age to make sound judgement or discretion. Statistically, yes, that child or minor has the highest chance of survival in a seat belt.
So yes, your 1st notion that seat belts improve safety is correct. However, its not sufficient to mandate seat belt usage. Especially when its usage physically only effects the user. From a financial standpoint, there are things that are of equal or greater risk, that are still legal. Smoking and drinking are more dangerous to society AND carry a higher financial burden but are both legal. Motorcycle riding is another past time of equal or higher risk.
Some Americans believe we need LESS government interference. Not more.
So your 1st issue of seat belts statistically making you safer is true. However, it does not make you safer in EVERY case, and there are many practical reasons why people aren't wearing their seat belts. Some are just driving short distances to get things. It affects some people's natural driving position. Others might be bigger individuals who are uncomfortable in seat belts. Some Americans wear seat belts in certain occasions like on the highways or in bad road conditions. 1 in 7 Americans don't wear seat belts.
Also, statistically, its still very unlikely that you are going to die as a result of not wearing a seat belt. You have a much higher chance dying due to smoking or eating unhealthy. Statistically, seat belts saved 17,490 lives in 2009. That number is exaggerated in your favor just to prove a point.
33,000 Americans died in car accidents that year. 53% of those that died that year were not wearing seat belts. So to assume that 17,490 people were killed because they were NOT wearing a seat belt is too high of an estimate. It can not be determined whether the person would have survived if they were strapped in. But for our model, lets assume ALL people would have survived if they were wearing their seat belt.
So if 17,490 people were saved due to the seat belt that year, and there are 310 million people in this country, then your chances of dying that year due to not wearing a seat belt (with our high estimate) would have been .00005641935%.
That means that statistically, my chances of surviving the year while not wearing a seat belt would be 99.994%
Not a stupid risk to take at all. If I smoked cigarettes I'd have a much, much higher chance of dying, and have a much higher financial burden on the general public.
Looking back over what I've presented so far, I don't think I need to further discuss the financial costs to society. In the relative scheme of things, seat belt usage is a minor issue as far as insurance costs in this country. There's much more dangerous issues that could be addressed before seat belt usage like gun rights, alcohol usage, and tobacco usage. However, I don't believe that other Americans should lose their rights just because something carries risk. We've been fine as a country for decades without too much government interference and I think we could continue to have liberty if we learn to regulate our society through education and information rather than turning our people into criminals or revenue generators.
I'll respond to other posters and hope that the debate turns into something productive.
You have about a .007% chance of dying in a car accident this year from not wearing a seat belt.
Gtownoe, not sure how anyone could argue with your statistics. Everything you have proposed is not only factual but completely logical.
I looked at the CDC website as well and just to compare, it shows that an average of 443,000 Americans die each year from smoking.
I also found on a different site...
Although motorcycles account for only 2% of vehicles on the road, they make up more than 10% of all crashes.
Then I also found alcohol can be blamed for 100,000 deaths each year.
For those that require references...I am not giving references, if you dont belive me then look it up yourself like I did.
I wonder how many advocates for mandating seatbelts ride motorcycles, smoke or drink alcohol, and what their reasons would be....
I was pretty surprised yesterday when I actually did the math. It's pretty scary in comparison to think about some of the other risks we take that are legal.
I do actually have a plan to combat the laws and raise public awareness. I've been surprised at how quickly public opinion has changed on this issue.
The 1st poll was 63% in favor to 34% opposed to the law.
"Police departments throughout the suburbs have begun flooding the streets with scores of extra officers ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
They aren't anticipating a crime wave. Instead, they are targeting seat belt scofflaws. While police say they are saving lives with the annual crackdown, it comes at a cost — up to $129 spent on each seat belt violation that yields up to $25 in fines for the municipality, according to an analysis of Illinois Department of Transportation records.
The funds come from IDOT's Sustained Traffic Enforcement Program grants, or STEP grants, that amounted to $261,930 for 41 suburbs in the weeks surrounding last Memorial Day.
Critics, including some defense lawyers, legislators and even police, complain the grant program teeters on the edge of violating constitutional rights and creates a quota system for the officers assigned to the detail."
I have a sister recovering from the worst type of brain injury possible. She could not even move last year when we got to the hospital and for a week she still could've died. They never expected her to be more than a vegetable.
She's been having to learn everything all over again. She still can't talk or walk without help. She was wearing a seat belt.
Thanks for wishing me luck. It shows what compassion you have for other drivers.
She was a beautiful actress, writer, and designer.
I have zero compassion for a driver that willingly doesn't wear a seat belt. I thought I have always been clear about that.
I wonder if your sister would be alive had she not been wearing a seat belt.
You have about a .007% chance of dying in a car accident this year from not wearing a seat belt.
And what is ther percentage of the chance to be in an accident in general or do those accidents not count? You sister didn't die in an accident, but she was still in an accident.
Deplorable, wrong, self serving, unfeeling, trashy, nasty piece of garbage post.
I got an infraction in this thread for my post. Apparently its acceptable for posters to make snide remarks about someone recovering from a traumatic brain injury.
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