[LUconn]

I'm sure most of you remember the thread about how I think seat belt laws are stupid. It's going expanded. Yay!


http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/l ... 04/199072/

Expanded seat-belt bill clears Senate


An expansion of the Virginia's mandatory seat-belt law cleared the state Senate this afternoon, and is headed to a hostile House of Delegates.

Voting 24-15, senators approved legislation by Fairfax Democrat George Barker requiring that back-seat passengers in cars and light trucks to buckle up.

Currently, mandatory seat-belt use is limited to the driver and others riding up front.

Yesterday, the Senate approved a tightening of the seat-belt law, making it a primary offense to fail use a safety restraint.

Are we going to have nannies on every corner peering into our cars to make sure everybody's buckled up? It's fairly obvious that this was not an issue or a problem. Elected officals just feel like they have to do something just to be doing something. Where is citizen wes running for office when you need him?

[vastrightwinger]

We already have a law like that here in Florida. Now they are trying to chagne the law to allow Police to pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt. At this time, they can only ticket you for not wearing a seatbelt if you get stopped for another offense. It is getting absurd. There are plenty of other things Police should be worrying about than if I am wearing a seatbelt. You can't legislate stupidity. All this is intended to be is a way to bring in more revenues and as the economy gets worse, expect more law like this.

[RubberMallet]

who cares...wear your seatbelt....

[SuperJon]

Who would get the ticket, the driver or the person not wearing their seatbelt?

[LUconn]

who cares...wear your seatbelt....

I don't want to get over dramatic with you so I'll spare you a long post demonstrating a slippery slope of "who cares" laws, but the main point is this is not how the government is supposed to work. It's turned into a giant HOA busybody. Anybody who's had to live under the tyranny of an HOA knows what I'm talking about.

[scuzdriver]

seat belts on motorcycles are coming. just wait and see.

[RubberMallet]

i just dont' see much conspiracy involved in making people where their seatbelt. look i would have no problem if they didn't have the law either because i use this simple proof


people who don't wear their seat belt = morons
less morons = better world
better world = me happier

therefore.

people not wearing their seatbelt = me happier

it is a needless law but who cares....wear your seatbelt or get a Guy Fawkes mask and make some bombs.

[LUconn]

I should run for some kind of office with a Fawkes mask on.

Do you wear your seat-belt if you're in the back seat? I never have my entire life.

[Sly Fox]

I do. But like Medic and Scuz, I have been to way too many accident scenes and seen the repercussions.

[JeanW]

I do. But like Medic and Scuz, I have been to way too many accident scenes and seen the repercussions.

I do too. My dad was a driver's ed teacher for years and wouldn't start the car till we all had our seatbelts on. BUT seatbelts save lives. Now I've lived in states for 20 years that require it so it is habit.

[RagingTireFire]

Don't kid yourselves that this has anything to do with driver safety. It's $$$, pure and simple. With the economic downturn and tax revenues down, several states are considering or already have legislation in the works to expand their seatbelt laws in an effort to offset the shortfall.

[LUconn]

good call. How could you pull someone over for not having a seat-belt on? Do cops have eagle vision? Or would there be check points like for drunk driving? Man, that would be annoying.

[Sly Fox]

It is bonus revenue for simple traffic stops. Yeah I get that the motives for the law and justification from a libertarian perspective are scant. But for once Mallet brings wisdom to the thread. Just buckle up and don't sweat the stupid law.

[ATrain]

I should run for some kind of office with a Fawkes mask on.

Do you wear your seat-belt if you're in the back seat? I never have my entire life.

Yes, I do. I feel naked in a car without one on.

Anyway, if anyone else had been with me the night my first car got totalled (and thank God there wasn't), if they had not been wearing a seatbelt they would've been ejected. Seatbelt laws are like a dress code: The state builds the roads, therefore the state has the power to enforce what type of vehicles are allowed and what equipment must be used. Just like LU has the right to force everyone to wear jeans and a collared shirt to class everyday.

[RagingTireFire]

Just like LU has the right to force everyone to wear jeans and a collared shirt to class everyday.

I wish they'd forced that on me.

I have no idea how they would enforce it but about 10 states, including Virginia, are considering making not wearing seat belt a primary traffic violation which means that the police can pull you over for nothing more than that.

[flamesbball84]

i wear my seat belt regardless of which seat I am in. it's just idiocy not to.

[ATrain]

Just like LU has the right to force everyone to wear jeans and a collared shirt to class everyday.

I wish they'd forced that on me.

If you weren't such an old hag, maybe they would

[ALUmnus]

But is it constitutional?

We didn't wear seatbelts at all growing up. Heck, our van didn't even have enough seats for everyone to sit in.

You know who I really feel bad for are the people who have died choking on their food. If only there were laws in place that would mandate how many times we had to chew each bite, we could have saved so many lives. Where are the lawmakers on this? WHERE ARE THEY? I demand accountability, they obviously have charge over our lives.

[PAmedic]

good call. How could you pull someone over for not having a seat-belt on? Do cops have eagle vision? Or would there be check points like for drunk driving? Man, that would be annoying.

1. Yes. Yes we do. Then again, its not needed when you are 18" across the double yellow line from me. I can at least see THAT far.

2. Yes. Yes we did. It's called the "Buckle Up PA " initiative and there's grant money out there for it. As long as we don't detain you unreasonably, and as long as we stop cars systematically, checkpoints have been upheld by the courts. (Besides- it's OT pay)
http://www.buckleuppa.org/

[RagingTireFire]

What about this, Eagle Eye?

[PAmedic]

if you could devise a way to attach the left shoulder to a fixed point on the B-pillar of the car, I'd say you've got something there.

[RagingTireFire]

I'm thinking of doing just that, then removing and folding the shirt in a flat pattern with just the graphic part showing and anchoring the tail hem of the shirt to some sort of release point near the center console. This should achieve a maximum camouflage effect especially if I'm wearing another shirt underneath that.

[PAmedic]

genius. Sheer genius.

what's odd is that no one else has come up with this.

I'd suggest you contact the patent office post haste

[Fumblerooskies]

genius. Sheer genius.

what's odd is that no one else has come up with this.

I'd suggest you contact the morgue post haste

FIFY

[ATrain]

But is it constitutional?

We didn't wear seatbelts at all growing up. Heck, our van didn't even have enough seats for everyone to sit in.

You know who I really feel bad for are the people who have died choking on their food. If only there were laws in place that would mandate how many times we had to chew each bite, we could have saved so many lives. Where are the lawmakers on this? WHERE ARE THEY? I demand accountability, they obviously have charge over our lives.

Does the state buy your food? Does the state own the restaraunt you eat in? No and no. Does the state own the road you drive on? Yes, so therefore, the state does have the constitutional right to make you wear your seatbelt.

However, you can still choose not to wear it, get in a wreck, get ejected from your vehicle, and be lying on the pavement unconscious while an EMT is cutting ALL your clothes off in the street in front of everyone with camera phones to check you for injuries...your choice.