[PvK]

You can get people to wear seatbelt and helmets and not to endanger their children or themselves by educating them, and that's the correct way to do it. If officers see something they think is actually dangerous to themselves but not to others, of course they can go tell people about it. But local governments are using these gimicks as excuses to increase revenue by harassing the people they are supposed to serve. Fundamentally, people have the right to endanger themselves by not wearing protective gear. If parents feel safe enough about an area to leave their kids somewhere, and the police actually disagree, then they can guard the kids and go clue in the parents, but a citation (points for their quota and cash for the city coffers)?

As for the argument that society stands to lose terrible amounts of money because it provides emergency care which would cost more if people aren't punished for not wearing seatbelts and bike helmets... a couple of things. The main thing is that's a perverted money-grubbing point of view in itself, and two wrongs do not make a right. Society's sloppy choices of medical rules and economics do not justify intrusive laws to mitigate their expenses. One much better solution is to deny insurance and/or issue fines for medical expenses for injuries when the person was not using whatever safety equipment.

Even better would be to torpedo the current insurance rackets, but that's a whole other topic.

As for automatic speeding radar and cameras, that's Orwellian BS. Cameras all over everywhere are invasive. Finding people guilty by using an automatic device is also bad justice. Speed limits are also nonsense. Most speed limits are much lower than the actual safe limit for a reasonable vehicle in good conditions, yet the limit is applied as if it were some sort of edict from Hitler that must be obeyed. No. If police are there to serve and protect (rather than to torment and stuff the local coffers), then they should only be ticketing people who are actually doing something dangerous to others. There are plenty of actual dangerous drivers to catch. But there are way too many people being pulled over for doing say 70 in a 55, on a sunny day on a straight wide open highway in a high-performance car. Meanwhile some Winebago in the rain in traffic is held to the same mindless limit. It's simply unjust.

PvK