I find it interesting that the seat belt ordinance is being assiduously enforced in the same neighborhood, and just down the street from the Steak and Shake where the two employees were murdered.

I’m all for dinging people if they are stopped for other infractions, but just seat belts, for a measly $10? That’s harassment,IMO. I wear the darn thing probably 98% of the time, even though it cuts into my neck (I’m short, and my car has no way to adjust it lower so it goes over my shoulder where it should.)

As far as kids in school busses– I can just see the buckle end being used as a weapon, breaking someone’s glasses, or knocking a tooth or two out. Modern school busses have you slotted into the highback seats like papers in a vertical desk organizer. Unless the bus puts it’s little wheels to the air, you aren’t going anywhere.

Did I say something about the cops helping to prevent real crime, and letting Darwin have his way with the people too silly to wear belts?

Since when has the government been interested in saving lives? A seatbelt or a helmet is an obvious no-brainer to use, but let the people decide. Regarding kids, I think the Democrat saying from another important issue applies here: “It’s not a child. It’s a choice.” If a parent doesn’t buckle their kid in, perhaps they really wanted a late-term abortion. It’s just a blob of cells anyway.

johnh never ceases to crack me up. He must be on peyote again. “How many times do cars that are uphill from a lake go in the water and people drown”…. holy cow man. He makes it sound like this is a daily occurance. The fact of the matter is that seatbelts and helmets give one a greater chance of survival in an accident. Yes, there is that one-in-a-million occurence where the seatbelt harmed the person more. I wonder if the people using this lame argument would play Russian Roulette with 5 bullets in a six shooter? I mean, hey, there’s that one chance you might not get shot.

I wear my seatbelt because it’s the smart thing to do. Not because big brother told me to. I do NOT think there should be a law about it. These laws serve only to generate revenue, as do many traffic laws and ordinances. I simply think insurance companies should write some kind of non-payment clause for claims from individuals who were found not to be wearing their seatbelts.

Race car drivers and fighter pilots wear belts and helmets…..good enough for me.

Tina M -
Thank you for completing your “example”. Here is the problem with it — it represents an exception and does not disprove the rule about seat belts.

Here are some links you may want to follow:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/seatbelts.htm
http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.cda13865569778598fcb6010dba046a0/

Seat belts and air bags are designed to protect you and enhance your survivability in the majority of accidents. If excessive speed and/or extraordinary circumstances are involved (ie. travelling over 90 mph or driving off the edge of the Grand Canyon), then all bets are off.

However, if you want to stick by your example, then at least find out what the survivability of other similar accidents as the one you describe is. Playing the odds in this case just does not make any sense.

I have more problems with folks breeding endless kids who crime than any law enforcements like you speak of. Those kids do me more harm than unsafe vehicle operators’ protections not being used. Financially if nothing else. Massive birth control please. It’s time. And get the feds off of old sick people backs who have legal state medical cannabis cards. They just want to screw with us. Nothing more.

Our nanny state has no right to tell adults what to do, they claim it is a matter of ‘public safety’ well what I do to myself has nothing to do with anything public, it is my decision and my choice. I wear my seatbelt, by choice not because some elected puppet voted that I must. Motorcycle helmets, well again that is a choice. I don’t ride a motorcycle, but if I did I would want that helmet on to protect myself.

The exception to the above is with children, I can agree with reasonable laws that require car seats to a certain point and seat belts for young children, there are parents that are highly irresponsible. On a motorcycle, I do agree that any minor MUST wear a helmet, even if the parent chooses not to.

So it wasn’t a head on collision is what you are saying Tina. So he got really lucky, the car probably spun around and the laws of physics were kind enough not to eject him from the car…even though he was going 80 mph at an intersection.

If that one accident is the reason you don’t wear a seatbelt, ask your local FD if you can ride around with the paramedics for a day and see what usually happens to people in a car without seatbelts on…

I agree that those people who engage in risky behavior should pay a price. If you eat meat your insurance should be higher, the hospital should charge you more etc.

People engage in risky behaviors. Smoking, drinking, meat eating, living in cities, riding bicylces on city streets. If you want to start punishing people for risky behavior, start with these.

The reason there is no helmet law in IL because there is NO compelling public safety issue. IL courts decided that public benefits don’t out-weigh the individual’s freedom. That sounds like alot like the balances that founded this country.

“Our nanny state has no right to tell adults what to do, they claim it is a matter of ‘public safety’ well what I do to myself has nothing to do with anything public, it is my decision and my choice.”

This statement is preeminently a self-centered one. Unless one is completely self-created and sprung whole from a rock in the desert, no individual stands alone. There are families, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, etc. in everyone’s net of existence. This statement is also the one of suicides.