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Seat Belt Laws

Your Opinion:

  • One federal seat belt law for everyone in the vehicle

    Votes: 15 23.1%

  • One federal seat belt law, but just for children

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Leave it up to the states to decide seat belt laws

    Votes: 24 36.9%

  • There should be no seat belt laws for adults

    Votes: 20 30.8%

  • Something else

    Votes: 6 9.2%
  • Total voters
    65
coolwalker said:
This was the beginning of our loss of personal choice and no one said anything...step by step more rights are taken away until the government makes all our choices for us and we then don gray uniforms and hats.
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I'll ignore the hyperbolic rhetoric and note that you must not be very old or experienced if you think this was the beginning.
 
Seatbelt laws should be enforced by the States, not the Fed. I'm sorry but the choice to wear a seatbelt or not does not just affect you. If you're sitting in the backseat in a car going 80mph and the car impacts, you can easily go flying into the person in front of you (who could be the driver) and kill them, or anywhere else in the car. If you're driving alone and want to be stupid by not wearing one, your choice. If you're driving with others, then your choice affects them.

If your body flies out the windshield and into traffic, that could be a source of more accidents. It has happened. While the accident is in progress, you have a better chance of regaining control of your vehicle if you're not flying all over the place in your car. If you have children and don't fasten them in, then you're a neglectful parent and the State should come down on you. It's not just about collecting fines. The State has a vested interest in preserving life, and seatbelts are unfailingly proven to reduce injury and death.

About forfeiting your access to services if you don't wear a belt, I think that's kind of a moot argument considering that the level of care you receive will be determined by what kind of health coverage you have. Sure, EMS will take you to the hospital, you might even get emergency surgery, but instead of getting a procedure that saves your legs or your motor skills, you might get the bare minimum and end up a quadriplegic instead.

Quit being a crybaby and wear the damn seatbelt. It takes a few seconds to put it in and that can save yourself as well as others.
 
Thunder said:
Seat belt laws save lives.

Why would you be against something that saves lives?
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Seat belts also take lives.

Anti-gun advocates believe that if even one death can be prevented by taking away a persons rights to have guns then it is worth losing that right and freedom. And yet people still want the right to have a gun if they so choose to. They want the right to be able to choose how to live their own lives...even if that means that they put their own lives in danger.

We as a country...no, as human beings are always putting ourselves at risk when there is no reason to do so. Example: Sky diving, bungee cord jumping, gliders, driving period, and countless other things. What makes driving without a seatbelt any different than any of those examples I gave? Driving without a seatbelt endangers no one but the person that is not wearing a seatbelt.
 
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Ikari said:
Hey, I have a PhD in physics; I just hate helmets. They're stuffy and cut off vision and I prefer to ride without one. Should be my call.
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Actually I agree with you, I was just in a smart ass mood. A helmet saved my life once in a motorcycle wreck but in a car wreck I had I would of been dead if I had a seat belt on, who the Hell knows when your times up.
 
Kal'Stang said:
Driving without a seatbelt endangers no one but the person that is not wearing a seatbelt.
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Not wearing a seatbelt puts more than just the person not wearing it at risk.

The person could be ejected from the car and is now a projectile, capable of hitting other cars or causing more accidents because people are trying to avoid running over them. Or, those not wearing seat belts can become projectiles within the car, hitting other passengers with their body and head. Being hit by a person's head that is flying around a car that had been going 50, 60 mph is lethal force. People have been killed and seriously injured by other passengers not wearing their seatbelts, even if they themselves were wearing one.

New Illinois state law requires adults to wear seatbelts in backseat | abc7chicago.com

Illinois State Police say backseat passengers can be projectiles. Fatalities have been caused to front seat passengers who were hit by rear passengers not wearing seat belts.
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My body. My car. My choice. I choose not to wear one and it's nobody's responsibility to pay to save my life if I get in a wreck. I am responsible. Me. Nobody else. If I choose to take the chance and not wear the belt, then it's my problem. Mine.
Period.
 
Enola said:
My body. My car. My choice. I choose not to wear one and it's nobody's responsibility to pay to save my life if I get in a wreck. I am responsible. Me. Nobody else. If I choose to take the chance and not wear the belt, then it's my problem. Mine.
Period.
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What about that person whose killed by your flying body when you get ejected from your car? What about those people who end up in accidents because your body is now blocking the roadway and people are trying not to run you over just in case you are still alive? What about other people in the car with you who may be wearing their seatbelts but are hit by your flailing head during an accident because you are traveling around the car? Now they're brain damaged or possibly dead because of your choice not to wear a seatbelt.

Your decision to not wear a seatbelt can harm others.
 
ludahai said:
Leave it up to the states, but it should definately be required for children under the age of 18 to be belted up...
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Actually, I agree with this only because it really isn't something that should be handled at a federal level.

I just think that all states should have mandatory seat belt laws.
 
roguenuke said:
Actually, I agree with this only because it really isn't something that should be handled at a federal level.

I just think that all states should have mandatory seat belt laws.
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Personally, I think anyone who does not wear a seat belt is an idiot and the states SHOULD have mandatory seat belt laws, but as you quite correctly mentioned, it is not the purvue of the federal government.
 
roguenuke said:
Not wearing a seatbelt puts more than just the person not wearing it at risk.

The person could be ejected from the car and is now a projectile, capable of hitting other cars or causing more accidents because people are trying to avoid running over them. Or, those not wearing seat belts can become projectiles within the car, hitting other passengers with their body and head. Being hit by a person's head that is flying around a car that had been going 50, 60 mph is lethal force. People have been killed and seriously injured by other passengers not wearing their seatbelts, even if they themselves were wearing one.

New Illinois state law requires adults to wear seatbelts in backseat | abc7chicago.com
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ALL I can do is shake my head. People died trying to give us and preserve our liberty and freedom and everyone wants to give it up just for a little bit of supposed safety.

Tell me, how many people have died this way vs how many have died due to wearing seatbelts?
 
Kal'Stang said:
ALL I can do is shake my head. People died trying to give us and preserve our liberty and freedom and everyone wants to give it up just for a little bit of supposed safety.

Tell me, how many people have died this way vs how many have died due to wearing seatbelts?
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I haven't been able to find this because neither statistic seems to be tracked.

I do know however that people are run over by other drivers due to being ejected from their vehicles. That is a fact. How exactly do you stop that person from feeling bad for running over the guy/girl in the road who wouldn't have been there had they worn their seatbelt? Or are you going to try to tell me this doesn't happen? Maybe it isn't your problem?

This ad is what really made me realize how dangerous it is for others in the car to not wear their seatbelt. It is a little disturbing and made me cry the first time I saw it.



And this isn't just some sensationalist video. It can and does happen.

By wearing your seatbelt, you are putting yourself in a much safer position than by not wearing it, and you are making it safer for everyone else in the car. By not wearing your seatbelt, you might have a slight chance of saving your life in the very rare instance where you are in a crash where you are not incapacitated but would be fatally restrained into the car had you been wearing your seatbelt. However, you are also putting others at risk who would not be in any danger from you at all had you been wearing your seatbelt.

Hell, I can think of an instance in NC where having children buckled into car seats got the two children and their mother killed. (She stupidly stopped on railroad tracks and got pinned in when a train was coming. She was frantically trying to unbuckle her kids and they all died.) Does that mean that we should now do away with all child safety seat laws because I know of one instance where they cost a family or at least 3 people in a family their lives?
 
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ludahai said:
Personally, I think anyone who does not wear a seat belt is an idiot and the states SHOULD have mandatory seat belt laws, but as you quite correctly mentioned, it is not the purvue of the federal government.
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One federal law would be better, less confusing, more fair. The states have shown that they cannot be trusted to do what is best.
And it makes sense to have one law rather than 50 different ones...
I also disagree with the "idiot" thing.... I do NOT always "buckle up"....and I doubt if I am the only one...
 
roguenuke said:
I haven't been able to find this because neither statistic seems to be tracked.

I do know however that people are run over by other drivers due to being ejected from their vehicles. That is a fact. How exactly do you stop that person from feeling bad for running over the guy/girl in the road who wouldn't have been there had they worn their seatbelt? Or are you going to try to tell me this doesn't happen? Maybe it isn't your problem?

This ad is what really made me realize how dangerous it is for others in the car to not wear their seatbelt. It is a little disturbing and made me cry the first time I saw it.



And this isn't just some sensationalist video. It can and does happen.

By wearing your seatbelt, you are putting yourself in a much safer position than by not wearing it, and you are making it safer for everyone else in the car. By not wearing your seatbelt, you might have a slight chance of saving your life in the very rare instance where you are in a crash where you are not incapacitated but would be fatally restrained into the car had you been wearing your seatbelt. However, you are also putting others at risk who would not be in any danger from you at all had you been wearing your seatbelt.

Hell, I can think of an instance in NC where having children buckled into car seats got the two children and their mother killed. (She stupidly stopped on railroad tracks and got pinned in when a train was coming. She was frantically trying to unbuckle her kids and they all died.) Does that mean that we should now do away with all child safety seat laws because I know of one instance where they cost a family or at least 3 people in a family their lives?
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Those are like the worst drivers ever. I'm going to stay off that road for sure!
 
Enola said:
My body. My car. My choice. I choose not to wear one and it's nobody's responsibility to pay to save my life if I get in a wreck. I am responsible. Me. Nobody else. If I choose to take the chance and not wear the belt, then it's my problem. Mine.
My thinking is similar...BUT that does not make it right...
Period.
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My thinking is similar, BUT, that does NOT make it "right".
In truth, its not "your" car, its society's, its the other passengers in the vehicle, its even the man on the street.. Read the other posts as I have...
In other words, lets be less selfish and more aware of the way things really are....
As far as the silly "losing of rights and liberties" goes...this has been going on since day one, with the advent of the second human....
 
Ikari said:
Those are like the worst drivers ever. I'm going to stay off that road for sure!
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Some nations have zero, 0.0, nada, absolutely no driver training....Our driver training of 50 years ago was not that much better...some poorer / southern states had nothing in this area.
Watch a segment of "Ice Road Truckers" where they drive their big-rigs in uncivilized "countries"....The ice roads are much safer...
 
Enola said:
My body. My car. My choice. I choose not to wear one and it's nobody's responsibility to pay to save my life if I get in a wreck. I am responsible. Me. Nobody else. If I choose to take the chance and not wear the belt, then it's my problem. Mine.
Period.
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Yeah government needs to get out of the business of legislating common sense!
 
Why should I be forced to wear a seat belt if someone else is allowed to ride a motorcycle without anything but a helmet? That's kind of hypocritical.
 
As one reading the poll results, its obvious that the majority of DP do not trust our federal government..
Our feds must have done something to "merit" this ...dislike... but what, exactly ??
Or is this just yet another case of the feds being one step ahead of the people where is come to civilization???....or advancement....
What Aunt Spiker says is very true...
 
RadicalModerate said:
NO seatbelt laws? What about for children passengers?
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Why is the exception always children? Besides its not like seat belts are made for children.

But no, not even for children.
 
leave it to the states, they know how much manpower they have to enforce the laws they put in place. Otherwise the federal government would have to help keep the police department staffed because they would certainly not have enough resources to go around.
 
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