And now for a comment from a reader.......

My rant for the day…

Its now a state law (I think) here that you can be cited for not wearing your seat belt. Before, it was something that they could add on to another violation, but now they can pull you over for only that. Just so you all know my position on this, I am fully against having the government tell me I have to wear a seatbelt. I know consequences of my actions and I should be the one deciding my fate. So I’m sitting in traffic on the way home, and I see a police vehicle and an orange sign stating “safety belt enforcement area.” Officers were everywhere, handing out a couple of tickets. I was wearing my seatbelt, not because the law says I have to, but because I know it’s a good thing to do. The irony in this, is that while waiting for the light to change, a couple guys on Harleys went thumping by… not wearing helmets. Where is the parity? I’m not saying that I think there should be helmet law, but it was funny seeing these guys go by while being harassed about seatbelts. Motorcycle riders have obviously realized a path to freedom that the majority of us are missing.

To me, having a seatbelt law is simply demoralizing. The elected officials that make the laws must have no respect for individuals. The message I hear from them is that I am not smart enough to make my own decisions. I’m sure that “they” (the elected officials that pushed the seatbelt law through) are feeling good about themselves thinking that by their actions, quality of life is improved. I cannot disagree more. Their motivation is likely partly due to statistical numbers… and “research” that shows if more people wear there seatbelts, there are less fatalities. Pass a law to make everyone wear a seatbelt, and that number goes down… “look what great good I’ve done the world,” I can hear them saying. What about the other factors that contribute to traffic accidents, like use of turn signals, or driver education?

-jk