I just want to add, last night on the news, three people were stopped for a seatbelt violation and they were charged with bigger crimes than just a little seatbelt ticket. I think they were charged with larcerny or something from another crime. They caught the crooks because they weren't wearing their seatbelts. Saw that and made me think of this thread.
They say that seat belt laws are unconstitutional. But one question is: what about wiretapping then? If the government can't make you do something that is proven to be able to protect you, then how is it that the CIA can wiretap millions of Americans without a warrant? Thoughts. EDIT: waiting for someone to come in here and say how seatbelts are gay and how they are real cowboys who don't follow the law
Well i used to be scared to not wear it because of those adverts saying wear a seatbelt and then theres like a crash and they all die .. I was like 7 at the time =] But now i just feel weird not wearing one .. They dont bother me so i may was well wear it ..
i feel that set belts are important because they save lives but i also feel that government does not have the right to make us wear them i am a very hard line conservative, not a republican even they believe in a larger government then i do, it is my opinion that the government should not control what you can and cannot do especially here in Pennsylvania where recently it became legal for motorcyclists to ride without helmets i don't under stand why bikers and motorists are so different especially because motorcycles are more dangerous then cars this difference wouldn't annoy me so much if when they made they it legal to ride without a helmet the same year they decided that set belts were required this has nothing to do with our safety, though the politicians would say it does, the whole point is to gather money from fines from the people. if you are refering to the patriot act that is not unconstitutional because they are not just listening in on random conversations they have a list of numbers of known terrorists over seas if your number calls that number then they wire tap you to make sure that you are not a terrorist. to not do so could result in another attack i know we live in America we don't see all the attacks but the fact is is that Europe Africa and of course the middle the middle east the attacks happen frequently and through this method it keep it from happening here.
Some people claim that wearing a seatbelt is discomforting. I'm not going to argue with you that people should wear seatbels, because they should. I'm arguing the fact that the government shouldn't be able to force you to wear one. Rules are necesary in our society, that much is true. Any idiot would agree with that. But there comes a point where the government is over regulating our every day decisions. I think forcing people to wear seatbelts is one of those laws that crosses that line. Hopefully some of you will eventually see how important a small decision like this really is... no matter how obvious the benefits are. The Patriot Act is another example of how we're slowly losing our freedoms in this country for the sake of being a "safer" nation.
This is something that many people in the UK have a problem with as well. The whole issue of the Nanny State. Whilst laws are a good thing i do feel that in many ways they overstep the mark in what Governments tell us we must do. Rather recently the UK government had a massive shakeup of children's school meals. The whole emphasis was to make them healthier. This is not in itself a bad thing but the problem with it was that we were not provided with a choice of having the healthy or unhealthy food. We were told that we had to eat the healthy food and the unhealthier food was removed from school canteens. This never effected me as i was already too old but it raises a couple interesting points that can be transfered over to the seatbelt argument. If the government decided to have a massive advertising campaign promoting seatbelts and their use but were still to give people choice as to whether they could wear them this would end all of the arguments. However i think what governments often realise is that people are often a danger to themselves due to the many aspects that make up western culture today. With the healthy eating and smoking in the UK the government are introducing laws to try and reduce it not simply because they want to remove people freedoms but it costs the country money. A lot of money. With the seatbelt laws, i do not know what the figures would be but surely someone crashing without a seatbelt and causing themselves serious injury is expensive for the public services to deal with. Well more expensive than dealing with someone who has sustained whiplash as part of an accident. I do agree with Draw the Line, a seatbelt rules really does seem petty but at the same time you can kind of see why they are doing it. Frankly though i do feel that Nanny State laws do often go to far in trying to make our choices for us and surely it should be down to the individual to suffer the consequences of his actions in such petty areas as seatbelts. I SeNTiNeL I