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Do you believe in seat belt laws for consenting adults?

Do you believe in seat belt laws?


  • Total voters
    99
  • Poll closed .
I support wearing seat belts. I'm also fine with insurance companies reducing or eliminating benefits for those who are injured or killed while not wearing seat belts. I'm not good with laws mandating selt belt use for adults.
 
Nonsense. They help to keep you conscious and in position to continue to operate the vehicle (if possible).

Very few people can accomplish such. Usually only professional drivers. Ordinary drivers on the other hand don't react in such a manner. Most peoples first reaction is shock which will leave you temporarily unable to react to anything. Other people can black out due to the sudden change in direction or sudden stop. The only time that a driver can actually attempt to control a vehicle, and have the faculty to be able to, is when they are not hit by another vehicle but instead spin out. And I know from person experiance that a spin out will not automatically throw you from your seat.
 
I know seat belts saves lives, I use them. That said, no I don't think the law should force me to use them if I don't want to use it. It's my life, I should be able to be as stupid or as smart as I want to be and if that means dying because I didn't have a seat belt on, so be it. Is it all about safety or those $150 traffic tickets and making revenue dollars for the state or counties? :thinking
 
Did I say that it wouldn't keep you in your seat? Nope I didn't. My arguement from the get go has been that seat belts both save and cost people their lives. IE it has both pro's and con's. As such it should be up to the individual to decide.

And the whole "if you don't wear a seatbelt you can potentially put other peoples lives in danger also" doesn't fly with me. Even getting in and driving the car in the first place puts other peoples lives in danger period. It is a risk that everyone accepts when they get into a car.

You originall said:
Seatbelts in no way help you control a vehicle that just got hit by another vehicle. Get real.

To which I say malarkey, you are wrong. And yes, seat belts do cost lives. But you job is to consider others safety as well as your own, and not do things that lessen it. Seat belts save more lives than they take, and can help you maintain control of a vehicle, which is your primary job when in one.

Just because there is assumed risk, and you decide to partake in a risky activity does not give you the right to decrease the safety of others. Never do you have that right.
 
Do you deny that seatbelts malfunction and due to that deaths occur?



Preventable Deaths Caused by Defective Seat Belts

Just a quick search brought that up. Not to mention hundreds of links to sue happy lawyers that help sue in such situations.

Happy you got some sort of statistic now? Of course I'm sure that you'll find something to fault with the article. Which is why I generally try and rely on common sense arguements.



Oh look...its the spelling police! Quick! Hide! /sarcasm :roll:

Are you kidding me? Arguing that because some tiny minority of seat belts fail to work properly, one should not use any of them, which guarantees that they will be ineffective, is simply insane. Would you use this argument for parachutes or motorcycle helmets as well? Did you even bother read your linked article - or simply consider it valid because it came up on your "seat belts cause death" Google search?
 
Very few people can accomplish such. Usually only professional drivers. Ordinary drivers on the other hand don't react in such a manner. Most peoples first reaction is shock which will leave you temporarily unable to react to anything. Other people can black out due to the sudden change in direction or sudden stop. The only time that a driver can actually attempt to control a vehicle, and have the faculty to be able to, is when they are not hit by another vehicle but instead spin out. And I know from person experiance that a spin out will not automatically throw you from your seat.

No person, even a professional driver, can operate a vehicle if unconscious or no longer in the driver's seat. You have yet to show any harm in mandating the use of seat belts - you simply object to "gov't control" in exchange for use of public roadways.
 
You originall said:

You might want to look back farther than that. My original statement in this thread was exactly what I just told you it was.

To which I say malarkey, you are wrong. And yes, seat belts do cost lives. But you job is to consider others safety as well as your own, and not do things that lessen it. Seat belts save more lives than they take, and can help you maintain control of a vehicle, which is your primary job when in one.

My job is to consider other peoples safety? Sorry but....No, its not. My only "job" is to protect me and mine. Everyone else can jump off a cliff for all I care.

As for controlling the vehicle...refer to post #52.

Just because there is assumed risk, and you decide to partake in a risky activity does not give you the right to decrease the safety of others. Never do you have that right.

Nor do you have the right to decrease my chances of survival by making me wear something which may kill me. Its a two way street. (no pun intended)
 
Are you kidding me? Arguing that because some tiny minority of seat belts fail to work properly, one should not use any of them, which guarantees that they will be ineffective, is simply insane. Would you use this argument for parachutes or motorcycle helmets as well? Did you even bother read your linked article - or simply consider it valid because it came up on your "seat belts cause death" Google search?

See, this is why I didn't want to provide the numbers. People seem to think that just because its a "tiny minority" that it is perfectly OK to make people risk their lives using something which may kill them. I can think of a number of things which people object to or support due to only a "tiny minority" being involved. Doesn't mean that it is right to object or support.

And why is it that when ever a person takes a stance of stating that there are both pro's and con's to something that the people responding only focus on the parts that they object to and invariably act like the person ONLY talked about what they are objecting to?
 
No person, even a professional driver, can operate a vehicle if unconscious or no longer in the driver's seat. You have yet to show any harm in mandating the use of seat belts - you simply object to "gov't control" in exchange for use of public roadways.

Considering you just quoted my post regarding 10k people killed due to seatbelts and dismissed it as a "tiny minority" I have to chuckle at this. No harm? Really? 10k people dead is no harm? (you also might want to note that was just for the year 2003)
 
See, this is why I didn't want to provide the numbers. People seem to think that just because its a "tiny minority" that it is perfectly OK to make people risk their lives using something which may kill them. I can think of a number of things which people object to or support due to only a "tiny minority" being involved. Doesn't mean that it is right to object or support.

And why is it that when ever a person takes a stance of stating that there are both pro's and con's to something that the people responding only focus on the parts that they object to and invariably act like the person ONLY talked about what they are objecting to?

Your link showed not such thing - it stated that faulty, i.e. inoperable, seat belts resulted in death - not that they caused the death.
 
A car shouldn't start until all the passengers have put their seat belts on.
 
Yes because when your ass gets into an accident, even one not your fault, and you're rushed to the ER your impact on my tax dollars is going to be a lot less if you were less injured because you wore your seat belt.

Don't give me any of this crap about the tyranny of government seat belt laws, freedom is not freedumb.
 
Your link showed not such thing - it stated that faulty, i.e. inoperable, seat belts resulted in death - not that they caused the death.

Faulty can also mean jammed. Faulty can also mean when the retractor doesn't retract properly and leave slack which can also cause death.
 
This question applies to legal adults only, not children:

Do you believe in seat belt laws?

a) Yes. They are nessisary to protect the public for their own good.
b) No. I'm a consenting adult and shouldn't have to wear one if I don't want to.


Discuss...




Anyone who is ticketed for not wearing their seat-belt should spend however long it takes in school learning not to forget to always use them.
 
Yes because when your ass gets into an accident, even one not your fault, and you're rushed to the ER your impact on my tax dollars is going to be a lot less if you were less injured because you wore your seat belt.

Don't give me any of this crap about the tyranny of government seat belt laws, freedom is not freedumb.

Isn't that what car insurance is for? Isn't that what Obamacare helps with also? Guess your tax dollar no longer matter in this regard.
 
Not so. You are required to wear a seat belt (only if you drive/ride on public roadways) not only for your own good but for the increased safety of others. Seat belts help keep the vehicle's occupants inside the vehicle instead of allowing them to become projectiles, ejected upon impact. These belts also help to keep the vehicle operator in a position to try to control the vehicle after the initial impact, helping to avoid secondary collisions, on our busy roadways. Having a damaged vehicle (or two) in the path of other motorists is bad enough, but adding one (or more) ejected people to the accident scene increases the danger to other motorists as they try to avoid adding themselves to the pile up.

The fact is, we don't have to do anything but die. As for the rest, we just have to suffer the consequences of our choices.
As stated to a friend just recently: "I can't help it if you think of only yourself, but have the decency to consider your family for just a moment, imagining them visiting your veggied self after they extracted your ugly mug from the windshield".
Its really not just about us, is it?
 
I for one, care less for them, and would not wear one if it was legal to not do so.

Texas passed the seat belt law in 1984 (coincidence?). I did not comply until I was ticketed in 1993 for not wearing one.
I hate the damn things.
 
Seatbelts in no way help you control a vehicle that just got hit by another vehicle. Get real.

Its easier to control the vehicle when your behind is in the seat instead of on the hood
 
Anyone who does that is a ****ing idiot.

That is of course your opinion. My sister almost died due to a seatbelt when she went of the road and into a river. Only reason she didn't is because she happened to have a knife with her.
 
Its easier to control the vehicle when your behind is in the seat instead of on the hood

If you get hit hard enough to get thrown onto the hood then you are not going to be able to control the vehicle even if you're wearing a seatbelt.
 
My job is to consider other peoples safety? Sorry but....No, its not. My only "job" is to protect me and mine. Everyone else can jump off a cliff for all I care.
You have no right to needlessly endanger the lives of others, even if that makes endangering your rights more likely. You chose to participate in an activity, you are morally required to take steps to lessen the risks to others.

Nor do you have the right to decrease my chances of survival by making me wear something which may kill me. Its a two way street. (no pun intended)
The chances of you surviving an accident while wearing a seat belt are statistically superior to not wearing one.

Furthermore.... there is no right to drive. If you decide to participate in said activity you must participate by the rules set forth by the elected officials who represent the will of the people.
 
What are you talking about?

You said that as a taxpayer you have the right to mandate that people should wear seatbelts because its your tax money being used to care for them in the hospital. That is not the case any longer due to both car insurance and Obamacare mandating that people have health insurance. Not to mention you totally disregard the fact that someone might actually pay the bill by themselves which again means your tax dollars are not used.
 
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