I don't necessarily agree that a person's seat belt use affects only him or herself. I have been in two accidents, neither of which were my fault. One of them was on the interstate, and I can say with certainty that the accident would have been much worse if my seat belt had not kept me IN MY SEAT AND SOMEWHAT IN CONTROL OF MY CAR.

Still not sure exactly how I feel about having a law about using a seat belt, but I do have to disagree with the argument that not using a seat belt only affects the person making that decision. It can have far-reaching implications in an accident.

Ken,

'Accepted Freedom' and a 'Right' are 2 separate things, I will grant you that.

Joe, what I am putting forth is that until state's mandated licenses, anyone could drive an automobile without the government's permission, just as anyone could ride a horse before the advent of the automobile. There is no law to quote as it was an accepted freedom. Then the government decided that there was money to be made in mandating licenses, traffic laws, driving classifications, etc.

These laws made driving a privilege instead of the accepted right it once was. Like many other freedoms we have lost in this country, it was a new law that took away an accepted freedom.

Ken,

With all due respect, please quote anywhere any law from any state or previous form of government in the US that gave people the 'right' to drive (if that's what you are trying to put forth).

People often forget that driving only became a privilege when the government made laws to make it so.

People often forget that driving is a privilege, not a right.

It is an infringement on my personal freedom to make me wear a seatbelt. My not wearing a seatbelt affects no one but myself! To spend tax dollars on enforcement of this so called rule of the road is ridiculous. I would be glad if seatbelt use is encouraged....but it should not be a law. I DON'T WEAR A SEATBELT unless the road conditions and weather is severe. After all Americans should have personal freedoms.

How can you call yourself an American when you allow the government to tell you to wear a seatbelt? It's my choice, not the governments. How can the state of Illionis mandate that seatbelts be used but not helmets on a motorcycle. What a load of crap. Its the same with the no smoking law, its an infringement on my pursuit of happiness. If I choose to not wear a seatbelt, or smoke a cigarette and die because of it, it's my own fault.

I never used to wear my seatbelt, but about 20 years ago, my brother was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. He was wearing his seatbelt, and walked away from the crash with minor injuries. I have been wearing my seatbelt ever since.

I agree that I don't want the government legislating too much of our lives, but I also don't feel it is right for taxpayers to foot the bill for emergency room visitors without insurance because they were too stupid to buckle up. Then again, New Hampshire above has an excellent point regarding natural selection.

Live Free or Die... New Hampshire remains the only state without a mandatory seat belt law... even Guam, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico have mandatory seat belt laws.

Driving is a privilege not a right. With privileges come "rules". If you don't follow the rules, you don't get the privileges.

The single car accident with the driver not wearing a seat belt who kills himself is a shame and possibly a death that could have been avoided. Most people will sigh and move on when they hear about these kinds of accidents. Unfortunately most accidents tend to be a lot more complex than that.

There also are huge implications on how we all share the cost of total losses thru the insurance premiums we pay. The more we can all do to hold down the cost of accidents the more we will all save. Is it right for everyone else to have to share the cost of a few recalcitrants who do not want to wear seat belts?

Maybe we would be better off to do away with all of the mandatory state and federal laws and just let the insurance companies handle it? They could state in their policy that using a seat belt at all times is mandatory to be insured. If you are in an accident and you are not wearing a seat belt then the policy has been violated and immediately becomes null and void and you simply are not covered. Case closed.

People then would have to make a choice of accepting responsibility for their own actions or not. Accepting responsibility for the things we do is something that has slowly eroded away in our society.

I started wearing my seatbelt every time I'm in the car when my first husband was in the military. On military installations, everyone has to wear their seatbelt. It has become a habit and I think a good one.

On the other hand, I think giving people tickets for not wearing seatbelts or even legislating that they must wear them is nobody's business but the individual's.

I'd like to see politicians doing something a bit more constructive, e.g., working to save money in their budget so taxes don't have to be raised, investigating Big Oil to find out why they've had record-breaking profits (and doing something about it), etc.

Too much police time and resources will be wasted on this "campaign."

I personally would not drive without wearing a belt or ride a motorcycle without a helmet and leathers.

That said, it's no business of the government's whether I do or not.

Wait till the government gets involved in healthcare. They will then have a financial interest in keeping us healthy. Expect to see a massive increase in this type of nanny state activity.

I wear my seat belt because I want to, not because I have to. In my case, I had a strict drivers instruction teacher in high school who was, how shall I say, extremely adamant when it came to seat belt use. You could say his passion rubbed off on all of us in class.

My only problem with the current seat belt law is the current seat belt law. I always take a dim view when government suddenly decides what it thinks is best for us, and the seat belt law is a prime example. As far as I am concerned, it gives local law enforcement yet another excuse to increase quota by writing out tickets for everything under the sun, including when someone is sitting in their car without a seat belt.

Don’t get me wrong, the law has saved a number of lives. I just feel it should be the individual choice of the person driving on whether or not they want to wear a belt, just because the government wants to play Nanny State. If anything, if schools had more drivers instruction teachers like the one I had back in high school, trust me, there would be no need for a seat belt law.

I've never been ticketed for not wearing a seatbelt and I never will be. I put my seatbelt on before I even start my car. Cars these days are getting safer and safer, crashes which were fatal in the 80's now leave people walking away started with a few bruises. Unfortunately all the crumple zones, airbags, adaptive breaking and/or seatbelt tension systems in the world won't make the least bit of difference if you're not buckling up.

I've never heard a coherent argument against wearing your seatbelt, but I've always thought it's silly to legislate. If you want to get rocketed through your windshield instead of taking the two seconds it would have taken to fasten your seatbelt when you start your car, more power to you! Seatbelt legislation only inhibits natural selection, Darwin is spinning in his grave!

My car doesn't move until everyone is belted. No exceptions. If you don't like it, get out and walk.