Again, seatbelts are a very good idea, usually, and people should be encouraged to wear them in reasonable ways. That does not mean that there should be fines and laws against not wearing a seatbelt. Just because something is a really good idea does not mean there should be a law against not doing it. It seems to me the correct solution is to impress upon people that they should through information, and not through legal threats. I wear a seatbelt because I was impressed by information given me at school about it, not because I'm afraid some officer will harrass my *** about it.
Also, if some communities are lame enough (IMO) to actually themselves vote to live under such laws, then OK. However, I'd like such laws to be decided by public vote rather than by the insurance-lobbied legislature. This can be done in the current US system, but it takes a lot of effort to work up a referrendum.
PvK
Edit/PS: If there has to be a seatbelt law to protect those
poor insurance companies that have to pay for extra medical care for someone not wearing a seat belt, then it seems pretty clear to me that the correct law to address this should say, essentially: "Those shunning seatbelts get to pay for their own treatment, and void insurance that doesn't specifically cover extra injury from foolishly not using safety equipment." The law for this should
not, it seems to me, be "The police get to pull people over and fine them for not wearing seat belts."
quote:
Originally posted by dmm:
Keep in mind that there are costs to society when a person is seriously injured in a car accident. Nobody pays those kind of medical bills on his own; we all collectively pay. And if a person is permanently disabled, again, we all collectively pay. Unless you are the kind of libertarian who advocates leaving injured poor people to die in the street like roadkill, you can't complain about stuff like seatbelt laws while maintaining logical consistency.
Same with stuff like "no smoking for minors," "no drinking for minors," "no cocaine for anyone," "babies must be in carseats," etc. Either we're all in this together, or we're not.
Having said all that, I must admit that I don't like the seatbelt law. I was once struck from behind by someone doing 50 mph who didn't see the red light. A hard-shell suitcase in the rear seat was shoved into my back. I think that if I HAD been wearing my seatbelt, my spine would have been crushed and I would be dead or crippled.
[ 10 April 2002: Message edited by: PvK ]
Re: If I were in charge ...
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