What is with america's obsession with seatbelts?

Question

Why should I have to pay a fine if I want to take a risk? I'm not hurting anyone by not wearing a seat belt. Has anyone petitioned this unnecessary law?

Thanks to anyone who can give me information or atleast take a side in this argument.

Answer 1

insurance companys have help put this law into use because to many people die or injuryed very bad where it cost alot of money to take of people.Myself i dont care for the law but if you ever witness someone who has gone through the windshield and died you might understand why you should wear the seatbelt

Answer 2

cause people don't wear seat belts then when they crash and get hurt the start suing people even though it was only the fault of the person in the car.

welcome to america

Answer 3

You are hurting yourself by not wearing the seatbelt. Most accidents occur from not wearing seat belts. My friend lost his arm simply for not wearing a seatbelt. The doctors said he wouldnt have flew out the window if he had a seat belt on. The accident he was in was not his fault. These are unexpected stuff!

Answer 4

It's because we don't want to pay for your life support systems when you become brain dead.  

Answer 5

the whole world is on a kick to TAKE care of us!...You see they always are smarter than us...we do not have enough sense to figure out when to wear our seatbelts...i grew up sleeping in a crib with ...lead paint...drinking and driving .....no seat belts.....saying what we really wanted to say....keeping it real......look what it has done to me!

Answer 6

Ummm, guess what you could hurt someone if you don't wear you belt.

your seat belt keeps you in front of the steering, enabling you to keep control of your vehicle after, lets say you get rear ended, and not plow into pedestrians or onto oncoming traffic. You'd be surprised how easily you would get tossed around in a car during a seemingly minor collision.

WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT!

Answer 7

In my state, you can refuse to wear seatbelts in the backseat if you are 18 or older.

Answer 8

it is to save lives. your family would be very upset to know that you could have survived a crash if you had worn a seat belt.

Answer 9

Desire to live!

Answer 10

i agree there should be a choice.

but that said, if an adult in the back seat gets thrown into a front seat passenger, they can do a lot of damage to the front seat passenger.

Answer 11

its the law;

Answer 12

True story - my oldest friend was killed by his brother who was asleep in the seat behind my friend. A car pulled out in front of my friend who went into a controlled stop but ended up crashing into the side of the other car, his brother was NOT wearing a seatbelt, flew forward and ended up smashing my friend in the head causing him serious injuries which later killed him.

I have always worn a seatbelt for as long as I can remember; if you choose to take the risk and get either injured or arrested and fined that is okay by me, just hope you are the only one to get killed or hurt and not an innocent person.

Now BELT UP!

Answer 13

You dont just hurt yourself you will hurt your family and friends if you are injuried and or killed.

I do see you point but at the same time if something as simple as a seat belt can save you then just wear it.

Answer 14

It's a good question  and Tom h basically got the right answer. The insurance companies forced the issue by telling people that the reason that their injuries were as severe as they were [ and cost the insurance companies lots ] was due to the fact that they  were negligent in their responsibility  to themselves

In some cases the ins companies refused to pay and passed on the burden of care to the State who then had a vested interest in their well being

The seat belt laws were never about saving lives but rather about saving money on injuries.

From a strictly dollar and cents position a quick death in an accident is the least expensive alternative for the insurance companies and long -term care is the most expensive.

Then to further complicate matters law enforcement realized that they could circumvent the intent of the Fourth Amendment and so they  jumped on the seat belt bandwagon too

Personally i will not wear a seat belt,They can give me enough tickets to  wallpaper a bathroom with and I won't wear one.

Why ?

Because I survived   a fatal accident due to the fact that  i wasn't wearing a seat belt

Had I been wearing a seat belt, they would have buried me 36 years ago>no doubt about it

Answer 15

It is an easy way to save lives, and has been proven to do so. Its like anything harmful to you (drugs, self abuse, etc...) you get in trouble for doing it. Also, if you get in an accident and get ejected from your car, you become a hazard (other cars need to avoid you) causing more danger to others.