Seat belt law for adults..personal issue..or driving saftey issue?

While I don't agree with the fact a cop can/will pull you over and give a ticket for not wearing a seat belt think about this, My wife and 5 (five) children are alive today because of seat belts (this is just my car). This accident totaled two cars and the children walked away with minor injuries. My wife was hurt badly and I did feel sorry for her, but I didn't feel sorry for her seat belt burns. So law or no law seat belts do save lives and the life you save with them could be yours.

bostonianinmo

I was nearly killed by an idiot who lost control of his pickup when he swerved to avoid hitting a dog in the road and slid to the wrong side of his truck because he didn't wear a seatbelt. He was killed instantly when he was ejected from the truck which then rolled over him. He left a wife and 4 kids behind and had no life insurance. So, on top of nearly killing me, his wife and kids are now on welfare. All because this idiot probably thought that he had a "right" to ignore the law and didn't give 2 sh!ts about anyone else, his own family included.

So, it's both a matter of safety for other road users as well as an issue of our tax dollars paying for this moron's refusal to wear a seatbelt.

Nuff said!

oklatom

See http://www.snopes.com/autos/accident/seatbelt.asp for some irony.

To answer though, it's a matter of safety. Individual states have an absolute right to put laws into effect when it costs them money without the law, and since seat belts keep occupants safe and inside the vehicle where they might otherwise be ejected, the state does have that right.

And there are plenty of studies and statistics to back up the number of lives saved with seat belts, so you're wrong there. Yes, it's safety.

Rage of Achilles - Sgarrista AMâ„¢

Money issue. You get into an accident without your safety belt on. Your health insurance doesn't cover it, but you are a vegetable lying on a bed 10 years before your body gives in. Hospital costs rise as a direct result because the CFO must make back the money being wasted on you for the hospital to float.

Second money issue. Tax payers have to pay to clean your brains off the pavement after you are ejected from your car.

Police officers must get involved, ambulance, coroner... all public service jobs sent to your accident because you are too stupid to put one on.

Personal. You have kids? Who is supposed to support them when you die? Me? Gee thanks!

justwonderingwhatever

I wear mine! All the time. I know from personal experiences that during an abrupt stop I was kept from hitting the dash board with my face. I'd rather have seat belt marks for awhile on my chest than have my nose smashed..or face disfigured. And they kept my young children from flying forward..it is the governments business when they have to go scrape you off the highway because you chose not to wear your seat belt.

12hrdaze

You've got to be kidding me.
Of course its a driving safety issue. Do you want to die in an accident? What if you have an old car without safety glass? A little decapitation on your list for the day? How about a broken back, or neck..?

Its COMMON SENSE. If some idiot doesnt want to wear a seatbelt, go for it, but if you do survive you're one lucky SOB.. half the time its not 'your' fault anyway, even if you are a great driver. Bet that crotch rocket you didnt see doesnt care if you dont have a seatbelt on, that deer that jumps out infront of you, or that semi that just lost control..

THINK, then drive.

drag1line

For me, it is a person issue on two counts. One I know and most sane people KNOW that they save lives. Personal knowledge of this. Two above answers talk about personal responsibility, that is a problem with our legal system, personal responsibility is not common in our society any more. Yes, you should be able to do whatever you want with seat belts and no helmets..That is your right..but I DO NOT want to pay for your hospital bills and long term care because it is your right to waste my tax money keeping your vegetative life going due to massive but not fatal injuries. Take complete and total control for YOUR care and life and more power to you to do what you want on this issue, but I do not want to pay for it or the family responsibilities you create or leave behind.
Think about someone but yourself for a change.

bluff mike

Too much government.

SpecialK

You've gotta be kidding me. Do me a favor and be a voluntary crash test dummy. Put your seat belt on, drive to about 55 mph and run off the highway. Now, without wearing your seat belt, do the same thing. Results? Just be sure to try it with seat belt on first. Come on man, you that ignorant?

And you thought this was a free country! The law requires the driver and passengers of a vehicle in motion on a public highway or street to be seat belted. Why is it a law? because there are still people out there that don't know seat belts do save lives. should it be law? that's up to you. write your congress man...

Eskimo Mom

Seat belt laws are a driving safety issue. Ask NJ Governor Jon Corzine. When he had his accident, his driver had his seat belt on & walked away. Gov. Corzine ended up spending 18 days in the hospital & spent untold thousands of dollars to get patched up. He is still mending as of this date.

In some ways, seat belt laws may be too much government, but we never know when an accident will occur. All it takes is one driver's mistake to set in motion events that will change a life forever. If nothing else, that seat belt will keep you in long enough to maintain control to reduce an accident or prevent rescuers from having to search for you, due to you being ejected from your vehicle, giving you a fighting chance at survival.

hondab16tuner

The law is fine, but needs to be revised. Look at school buses, do they have seat belts? NO. How about public transport buses, NO. In Kentucky its legal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but you HAVE to wear your seatbelt. Some laws are passed without proper thought. Heres one for you, It's illegal to drink and drive, yet we have drive thru liquor stores.

Colt

Yeah it is kinda stupid, though I will admit it has saved peoples lives so for that reason it is considered safety, though I personally have broken my collarbone quite a few times because of seat belts, but what makes it seem so stupid is motorcycles if your over 18 as long as you have some type of insurance including health you don't have to wear a helmet. You hit something going 55 in car you have a chance of surviving with or with out a seat belt, on a motorcycle you hit something going 55 let alone 25 without a helmet your going to most likely die or break a few bones at best.

To those that call people stupid because of what their opinion is, are equally stupid, and to those trying to force their ideals on to other people like the guy below, when driving you should know the consequences of driving and of your own safety if someone is going to wear their seat belt they will if they don't want to wear it the seat belt they are not so don't waist you breath or fingers telling someone what to do. with people that wear seat belts what happens if somebodies head comes in contact with the steering wheel and they die because of that or the force of impact cause the neck to break, the seat belt didn't help them any did it.

When somebody goes on the road they should know the consequences of it, its a chance that the person takes putting their life possably into somebody else's hands. wearing a seat belt or not...

answerman63

The CORRECT answer is that it is a MONEY issue. These laws were designed solely to create revenue through fines. Don't believe for a second that it's about safety. If they were about safety, then 40 million children would not be going back and forth to and from school each day in school buses that have no seat belts. This is simply another draconian method to squeeze more revenue out of the public.

malemute1

WAY too much government. The feds have absolutely no business mandating my personal choice! Whether I choose to wea a seat belt has NO bearing on the health and welfare of others, therefore it is none of their business!!!

abston

This maynot be the place to submit this thought. I have ridden motorcycles alot over the years , and What I would like to see is the painted lines on the roads have sand or something in it to grip, I've came close. Also I see people blowing there grass out on to the road, I have almost wrecked because of that. Where would a person get this addredssed. I have been guilty myself of mowing my yard and throwing it out on to the road. But if everybody road motorcyles they would feel the way I do. I just think this would make the riders world a little safer? I didn't know where to take this but maybe you can direct? Thanks Jackey

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