# Seat belt laws **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 5, 2000, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896 "2000-04-05T05:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![David\_God\_of\_Frogs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@David\_God\_of\_Frogs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_God_of_Frogs)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/1 "2000-04-05T05:31:00Z")
As I understand it, the job of the government is to regulate interactions between people. If there was only one person, there would be no government. So why are there laws that make you wear seat belts? There is no possible way you could hurt anyone else by not wearing one, and it is your right to put yourself at risk. You’re the only person being affected by it. There are lots of examples of this, I’m just choosing this one becuase there are no quality-of-life issues or anything like that. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/2 "2000-04-05T12:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > There is no possible way you could hurt anyone else by not wearing one, and it is your right to put yourself at risk. Unfortunately, this is not true. Any unrestrained object in a car during a collision becomes a missile. This includes people. I’ve read of an effect known as “elephanting” in which an unbelted person in the back seat literally crushes the person sitting in front of them during a collision. Even the driver and front seat passenger pose a danger to other passengers - even people outside the car if the occupants are thrown by the collision. I’m not much in favor of government intrusion into private life, but I’m torn on this subject. Nobody rides in my car without wearing a seatbelt. I try to avoid riding with people who don’t buckle up. If it were just my own (and others’) private decision, I’d say take the laws off the books and let insurance companies set their own policies about covering people who don’t wear seatbelts. The trouble is, there’s a whole class of people who aren’t able to make those decisions and must depend on others to do so - children. While we’ll never convince every adult to always buckle up when they’re in a car with a child (someone who can’t make the decision not to ride with an unsafe driver or passenger), the force of the law does carry some weight in protecting them. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/3 "2000-04-05T15:24:00Z")
Then there is the issue of deaths prevented by wearing seatbelts (should society attempt to be responsible for its members?), and the issue of health care costs from auto injuries (even if the person has adequate insurance, it is still a burden). Personally, I think they’re good things. Esprix * * * [Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/4 "2000-04-05T15:31:00Z")
There is also the consideration you must extend to emergency personel and bystanders. If you don’t wear a seatbelt and are involved in an automobile accident you may be the recipient of a glass necklace. The result may mean your detached head rolling around in traffic under and people’s feet. Also, who the hell want to pick up your dead body part off the ground with a spoon? Yuk. Please have consideration for others and keep your body in your own car. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/5 "2000-04-05T16:12:00Z")
Victims of accidents place a burden on society – the cost of the paramedics and ambulance crew, the time the police officers have to put into investigations, the cost of the emergency room etc. Society accepts these costs, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable for society to try to regulate behavior (wearing a seatbelt) which might lower those costs. I feel the same way about motorcycle hemets. * * * I understand all the words, they just don’t make sense together like that. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/6 "2000-04-06T04:14:00Z")
Society would be best advised to stop trying to save the genes of those so stupid they would otherwise remove themselves from the gene pool. Keeping children safe is a great idea. Keeping those too stupid to save themselves safe is not. ---
**Author:** ![Bored2001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47774/32.png) [@Bored2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bored2001)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/7 "2000-04-06T07:17:00Z")
Just wondering… Did you just get a ticket for this? I believe that the government is there to keep the stupid mob(but smart individual) from killing itself. Anyway…You know what, you go ahead and not wear your seatbelt. If you get into a crash and die i’ll nominate you for the darwin award(A website consisting of stupid stories of how people took themselves out of the gene pool.) ---
**Author:** ![Freedomx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4af34b/32.png) [@Freedomx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freedomx)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/8 "2000-04-06T11:39:00Z")
How do people who believe in Darwin and evolution justify these laws? How do we “cull the herd” and evolve if we remove a substantial amount of risk from our personal decisions? ::::This post was a joke:::: ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/9 "2000-04-06T14:07:00Z")
Simple - we wait for the Vorlons and the Shadows to start meddling in the affairs of the universe, and then the Minbari… Oh. Never mind. Esprix * * * [Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html) ---
**Author:** ![danielnsmith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c89c15/32.png) [@danielnsmith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danielnsmith)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/10 "2000-04-06T14:13:00Z")
Phouka, what state requires seat belts to be worn in the back seat? Here in Iowa, only front seat passengers have to wear seat belts and children under the age of 5 are requiered to be in saftey seats. The truth is, dead people don’t pay taxes. They may vote in Chicago and New York, but they don’t pay taxes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Occam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Occam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Occam)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/11 "2000-04-06T14:20:00Z")
Actually, I think the idea is the government is protecting the finances of others. So you get a couple of meatballs that decide helmets and seatbelts suck, well WHEN they get into an accident the insurance rates go up for everyone. The coffers of the government are then drained in a multitude of ways for a brain-dead vegetable. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/12 "2000-04-06T14:26:00Z")
Bored - I got a ticket for no seat belts - it wasn’t me, it was my ex’s kids (who were the most rotten, evil little spawns of, well, can’t say Satan so pick your demon), I was driving and told them to sit the h\*ll down and put them on but HE refused to enforce it. Officer Friendly got a gander, and pulled me over, I got the ticket as I was the driver. Yes, they were in the backseat. Now, as to seat belt laws, I am of the opinion that buckling up children should be mandated, and **enforced** (this is a **big** issue with me) however, adults should **not** be subject to those same requirements. ---
**Author:** ![Centerline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Centerline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Centerline)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/13 "2000-04-06T14:41:00Z")
Let’s see: Someone invent the seat belt that is proven to save lives. A major auto company knows it is a good thing but it will add $x to the price of each car. Since other companies does not appear to use it also, it will put them at a disadvantage if they add the feature to every car. Nevertheless, by putting them into the top of the line cars, followed by a major ad campaign, they manage to sell a lot of the expensive, high margin, cars based on this “safety” feature. These seat belts can be added by consumers as an aftermarket item if they are truly concerned about safety. Some do, many don’t - either they are willing to take the risk, or they can’t afford it. A self appointed consumer group now latch on to some accident where some family members tragically dies, preferably children and grandmothers. It got a 30 second local news spot. By selective and highly masterful manipulation, they manage to splash it into national news, claiming that if the car had seat belts, the tragedy will not happen, not that it can be proven…it can only be couched in some stats, but you and I don’t care to listen nor understand the subtleties. It gets the group a lot of publicity. Not that that is a totally bad thing, because more education of the public occurs. Some Lawyer somewhere decides that he is going to sue everyone in sight based on the fact that the car does not have seat belts. Forget that the consumer should be responsible for his own decisions. When there is big jury awards involved, anything goes. Juries just go for the deep pockets. The auto companies now are in a dillema. There are all these law suits, even though they are winning them, but its a pain and expensive, particularly in terms of public relations. On the other hand, they can’t put seat belts in because it will increase the price of the cars. In comes the politician. To prove that he is doing good, he pushes a law that says everyone must be in seat belts, ergo, all cars must have seat belts. This relieves that companies from having to compete on merit. It lets them get more money from each car they sell at the same time. It also helps that the auto companies now give a large donation to his campaign. The consumer? Well, he now pays more for each car, gets fined if he does not use the seat belt, and loses a little bit more of his freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/14 "2000-04-06T14:58:00Z")
Esprix… I’m with you on that one… let Kosh sort all this stuff out… 😃 Elenfair… who has a dog named after a B-5 character… How lame is THAT? 😉 * * * “Black holes were created when God divided by 0” ~Wally ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/15 "2000-04-06T15:17:00Z")
Did you know that your friendly neighborhood Mailman is NOT required to wear seatbelts. Neither is the DOT person who rides with you when you are getting your licence. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/16 "2000-04-06T18:02:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Centerline** : > > The consumer? Well, he now pays more for each car, gets fined if he does not use the seat belt, and loses a little bit more of his freedom. Yeah, heaven forbid it actually _save lives_… :rolleyes: Esprix, who is willing to pay extra to help save his life * * * [Ask the Gay Guy!](http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html) (or, if you prefer the Jesusfied version, [Asketh the damn Priest Guy!](http://www.askjesus.org/ask.cgi?http://boards.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/001376.html)) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/17 "2000-04-06T19:51:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by justwannano: > **Did you know that your friendly neighborhood Mailman is NOT required to wear seatbelts.** I spotted my friendly neighborhood letter carrier going by just now, and I ran out there and asked him about the Postal Service not being required to wear seat belts. He said that according to U.S. Postal Service regulations, letter carriers are required to uphold all local, state, and federal laws–if the law requires people to wear seat belts, then the mailman is also supposed to be wearing a seat belt. However, he agreed (somewhat sheepishly) that the rule is more often honored in the breach, same as coasting through stop signs, parking in “No Parking” zones, etc. But they ARE supposed to be wearing them, straight from the horse’s mouth (so to speak). So, I didn’t know that, either. You learn something new every day. 🙂 * * * “Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!” - the White Queen ---
**Author:** ![Centerline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Centerline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Centerline)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/18 "2000-04-06T20:01:00Z")
“Yeah, heaven forbid it actually save lives…” ---
**Author:** ![Centerline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Centerline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Centerline)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/19 "2000-04-06T20:24:00Z")
“Yeah, heaven forbid it actually save lives…” Many things saves lives, why not mandate them all by law. We can become a highly robotic and REALLY SAFE society. My life can become one really constricted path. Imagine, one day our brains can be implanted with a computer chip that guide our every move and stop us from our own uneducated stupidity. There will be no risks, sit back and enjoy! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896/20 "2000-04-06T20:31:00Z")
The point is that wearing a seat belt is a small inconvenience to the passengers of a car, and has great benefits. No one is saying that our lives should be totally devoid of danger, in case cars would be outlawed altogether. But sometimes you have to weigh the advantages vs. the disadvantages. State legislatures have decided that the benefits of seat laws are worth enforcing. I personally agree with that. And for the people that say “it makes no difference to anyone except me”, see the points above made regarding insurance costs and the use of medical and/or emergency rescue personnel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seat-belt-laws/17896.md?page=2)