Seatbelt law

[Beer Snob]

After seeing some of the responses from the Smoking debate in the Pub section I was wondering if people felt the same way about the seatbelt law.

What do you think of it? Should the government tell you to wear your seatbelt and inforce it? Do you grab the belt every time you see a patrol car sitting on the side of the road?

How about lives.... ? Does the seatbelt law save lives? Who is this law for? Is it for the person wearing the seatbelt without thought... or for the person who does not wear the seatbelt?

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

To be honest with you, while I'm not a big fan of government intrusion into my life this isn't one the bothers me that much. I would probably be wearing a seatbelt even without the threat of penalties. Sometimes I don't wear it but most times I do. I guess it comes down to the fact that this is a law that makes sense to me as I would prefer to survive an accident than not and I think seatbelts give you a better chance.

 

[Pumbaa]

What do you think of it? It sucks

Should the Government . . .? NO

Do you grab . . .? nope

Does the seatbelt law save lives? probably

Who is this law for? It's for all those feel gooders (do gooders actually DO something) in the government who realize we all all too patheticly helpless to make a rational decision for oursleves. If it wasnt for them none of us would ever be able to do anything and would all probably be dead as the result of our lack of compitence.

I sort of have a issue with people I emlpoy telling me what to do.
Yes the government is MY employee and serve at my whim. Too bad they and many others have forgoten that

 

[Beer Snob]

Who is this law for? It's for all those feel gooders (do gooders actually DO something) in the government who realize we all all too patheticly helpless to make a rational decision for oursleves. If it wasnt for them none of us would ever be able to do anything and would all probably be dead as the result of our lack of compitence.

I sort of have a issue with people I emlpoy telling me what to do.
Yes the government is MY employee and serve at my whim. Too bad they and many others have forgoten that

I also, as mentioned in the other hot topic, do have a problem with the government making laws to "govern" my life. I thought this law was for the people who dont wear seatbelts... so that they wear them. The insurance places have an interesting take on this though. I happened to be talking about it with my insurace place cause they asked me if I wore it (back when it was not a law). They told me that this law is actually for me. Or you... the one who wears the seatbelt.

Here is the scenereo they gave me.. hipe or not.... you have an acident and various people get hurt. The degree that they get hurt appears to be related to if they wear the seatbelt or not. What they told me was because of "No Fault", I, as the person who am wearing the belt and gets hurt less, am paying the increase fees (as in hospital, care, ect) because the person who did not wear the belt got hurt more. This comes out as our increased primiuns for insurance.

Well I think this is pretty simplictic and I think insurance places are basicly money hungry savages who would come up with any excuse to charge me more.... but from at least one certain point of view what he said makes some certain amount of sense.

Another group of people who has a take on this is state government. The penelties for breaking this law is pretty stiff. And it all goes in the state's pocket. My mother got nailed and it was $100 at the time! FIRST OFFENSE!

 

[El Pistolero]

Normally I don't care for any govt interference in my life, but when an idiot dies getting thrown out of his car, it costs me money. Someone has to pay to clean up the body, someone has to pay Pumbaa and his buddies, someone has to pay the workers in the ER. Taxes go up, insurance rates go up, money comes out of my pocket. Anyone who drives exclusively out in the country on private property is welcome to kill and/or maim themselves to their hearts content...just as long as I don't have to pay for that.

Politics aside tho...seatbelts save lives. I don't know how anyone could ever live with themselves if they lost a loved one in a minor accident because their seat belt wasn't buckled.

 

[Truble]

Having just been in a pretty bad accident in December, I can say that my sealtbelt saved me from any serious injury, as did the airbags. I will be the first person in line against letting the govt too far into my life, but I see this one this way: Driving a car is not a right, it is a privilege. If there is a safety ordinance in place that states I need to wear a saftey belt in order to use the roads that the government, aka everyone's collective tax dollars spends, then so be it. If I don't want to wear it, then I can take the ticket if I get it, or don't drive. If it helps encourage "responsible" driving, and perhaps edges premiums down , or the death toll down, then fine. I don't see this as an invasion of my privacy, as manditory caryying of Govt ID cards, mandatory fingerprinting, etc would be, since I have the option to do it or not since it is governing a privilege, not a right guaranteed by the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Bottom line, I started wearing mine because I couldn't afford the ticket. After December, I wear it because of that and the fact that it works. I slammed into someone who blew a stop sign, and veered off over an embankment and flipped over into a stream, landing on my roof. Both airbags went off, truck was completely totaled. I had a cut on my figer that I actually sustained getting out of the truck, since it was filling up with water. My seatbelt kept me in my seat tight and safe.