Seat belt laws

[Natebishop3]

So I had the privilege of paying the great city of Tigard $109 today for not wearing my seat belt. I still don't understand how that law is on the books, or how they can enforce it. How can a law forcing the populace to wear a preventative device be constitutional? It's not like wearing a seat belt saves other peoples lives... just my own.

I had the option to plead "not guilty" and request a trial date, but I honestly don't have the time or energy to fight the government on this. I just don't see how the government can force us to wear something that might save our lives. It's just a money making scheme.

This isn't like cell phones or drinking and driving, I'm not putting others at risk. I just think it's all bullshit.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

i love it when people who are "too cool for school" decide not to put seatbelts on in my car.

 

[andalusian]

I generally agree with the stupidity of these laws. The reasoning I heard (regarding helmet laws, which are in the same category, I suppose) is that it would cost the state money to treat you if you are injured in an accident without proper protection.

If it were me I would just rather have a "do not treat without proof of payment" law for people that do not use the industry recommended protection and be done with it.

Sorry to hear about the hassle.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I'm pretty ambivelent about the law. Don't really see it as unobtrusive, just that people who don't wear seatbelts in moving cars are FUCKING MORONS.

 

[julius]

So I had the privilege of paying the great city of Tigard $109 today for not wearing my seat belt. I still don't understand how that law is on the books, or how they can enforce it. How can a law forcing the populace to wear a preventative device be constitutional? It's not like wearing a seat belt saves other peoples lives... just my own.

I had the option to plead "not guilty" and request a trial date, but I honestly don't have the time or energy to fight the government on this. I just don't see how the government can force us to wear something that might save our lives. It's just a money making scheme.

This isn't like cell phones or drinking and driving, I'm not putting others at risk. I just think it's all bullshit.

How is it a money making scheme, if you simply wear it and don't get the ticket? Of all the things to complain about the "man" forcing on you, a seatbelt seems to be one of the lamest ones to bitch about.

 

[MARIS61]

Studies have shown a seatbelt can sometimes keep an accident from turning into a 3 or 4 car accident by keeping the driver in his seat and conscious.

Driving unbuckled is an idiot's move, said the cigar-smoker.

 

[barfo]

It costs everybody a bunch of money when you are injured in a traffic accident. Even if you have insurance, the insurance doesn't pay for the 20 cop cars that show up, for all the tracking of injury/death accidents that various agencies have to do, for the time and money lost by hundreds of people in the traffic jam while your blood is running into the gutter.

PapaG is really pissed off at how much tax money he spends on scraping your remains off the street, you freeloader.

barfo

 

[PapaG]

I'm pretty ambivelent about the law. Don't really see it as unobtrusive, just that people who don't wear seatbelts in moving cars are FUCKING MORONS.

I agree completely. I wore a seat belt before it was mandated. Seems like the data shows they protect you more than harm you, so I wear one at all times.

Nate, did you just forget, or are you a rebel who doesn't wear a seat belt?

 

[PapaG]

It costs everybody a bunch of money when you are injured in a traffic accident. Even if you have insurance, the insurance doesn't pay for the 20 cop cars that show up, for all the tracking of injury/death accidents that various agencies have to do, for the time and money lost by hundreds of people in the traffic jam while your blood is running into the gutter.

PapaG is really pissed off at how much tax money he spends on scraping your remains off the street, you freeloader.

barfo

Well, that's one way to look at it, and although I don't really agree with seat belt laws, they don't upset me nearly as much as taxpayer money being automatically given to public unions. Plus, Nate just gave more of his privately earned money to the government.

Perhaps that will somehow help Sam Adams hire another intern to violate, although it will be hard to beat a name like Beau Breedlove.

 

[Natebishop3]

It's still a preventative measure. I might go my whole life without an accident or needing to wear the belt. In this case, I was going from one parking lot down the street two blocks into another parking lot. I usually wear my belt, but the point is, the government should not be able to tell me I HAVE to wear it. People can apparently smoke, or drink booze, killing themselves slowly but I have to wear a belt that may or may not save my life in an accident.

And don't tell me this isn't a money making scheme... there was at least 30 or 40 people in the 20 minutes that I was in court today. A fourth of them were there for seat belt infractions. That's a little over a grand for about 5 minutes of work by the judge. Not bad.

 

[PapaG]

It's still a preventative measure. I might go my whole life without an accident or needing to wear the belt. In this case, I was going from one parking lot down the street two blocks into another parking lot. I usually wear my belt, but the point is, the government should not be able to tell me I HAVE to wear it. People can apparently smoke, or drink booze, killing themselves slowly but I have to wear a belt that may or may not save my life in an accident.

And don't tell me this isn't a money making scheme... there was at least 30 or 40 people in the 20 minutes that I was in court today. A fourth of them were there for seat belt infractions. That's a little over a grand for about 5 minutes of work by the judge. Not bad.

Fight the power! I agree with you, and notice the libs' argument (barfo, primarily) centers around more taxpayer resources being used to help "scrape" people off of the streets.

Can't be using money to save people, can we? There are excessive retirements to fund! I wonder what the state's cut off of your $109 is, and where that money goes?

 

[Natebishop3]

I agree completely. I wore a seat belt before it was mandated. Seems like the data shows they protect you more than harm you, so I wear one at all times.

Nate, did you just forget, or are you a rebel who doesn't wear a seat belt?

Usually I wear it, but really, where does the government get off telling me I HAVE TO? We let people jump out of airplanes, we let them jump off cliffs, we let them hang from their ankle on a giant bungee chord, we let them climb mountains in snow storms so that the National Guard has to be called to save their dumb asses... but hey, as long as they were wearing their seat belts on the way to that dangerous hobby, it's all good, right?

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

When I was in high school I never wore my seat belt because my VERY hot/fast car didn't have them. My girlfriend's father found out and cooly informed me that if there were no seatbelts for her to wear, she wasn't riding in my car. Since she was a wispy hot blonde, I bought some at the junk yard and installed. Two weeks later I'm cruising with a pal at 55 down 217 with my seat belt on for some unknown reason (before there were any over passes) and a drunk lady with 3 other passengers runs a red light right in front of me. I t-boned her, killing her front passenger instantly. I ended up in the street unconscious and my friend was extricated with the 'jaws of life'. She was cited.

Since then I have always worn it, but feel adults should be able to choose whether or not they want to wear them.

 

[Denny Crane]

I am fully opposed to seat belt and helmet laws.

 

[julius]

Usually I wear it, but really, where does the government get off telling me I HAVE TO? We let people jump out of airplanes,

Not the same. When you jump out of a plane, you're not on a highway paid for (and in most cases, owned by) the government. you're not in a place where if you cause an accident, or fly out of your car and get picked up, it will impact the tax payers.

not only that, but there are requirements that you must follow to jump out of a plane OR be allowed to let people jump out of planes.

we let them jump off cliffs, we let them hang from their ankle on a giant bungee chord, we let them climb mountains in snow storms so that the National Guard has to be called to save their dumb asses.

Not the same. especially when you take into account that you pay to be saved. So maybe, if you get in an accident and your seatbelt is off and because of you not wearing a seatbelt you cause other accidents or fly out of the window and it is required that police/ambulance are necessary, you have to pay for all of it out of your own pocket.

.. but hey, as long as they were wearing their seat belts on the way to that dangerous hobby, it's all good, right?

Still seems like a rather very minor thing to be bitching about. if anything, it's cheaper to wear one even if you are moving 2 blocks. I understand the whole "the man/stupid laws" argument, but it's rather lame for this one.

Feel free to try to dress me down with your stellar philosophy of the argument techniques and speech class notes you took.

 

[barfo]

Well, that's one way to look at it, and although I don't really agree with seat belt laws, they don't upset me nearly as much as taxpayer money being automatically given to public unions. Plus, Nate just gave more of his privately earned money to the government.

Perhaps that will somehow help Sam Adams hire another intern to violate, although it will be hard to beat a name like Beau Breedlove.

Pretty sure Sam Adams is not the mayor of Tigard, and I don't think Beau Breedlove was an intern. But I agree the name is hard to top.

barfo

 

[TehChad]

I used to be lazy with the seatbelt too...then I was involved in a vicious car accident when I was 13. The seatbelt saved my life, and I haven't taken it off once since. You just don't know...you may be an excellent driver, but that won't help you when some drunken idiot runs a stoplight and smashes into you at 64 mph (like what happened to me).

These days, I won't take the car out of park unless everyone has their seatbelt on.

 

[Natebishop3]

Not the same. When you jump out of a plane, you're not on a highway paid for (and in most cases, owned by) the government. you're not in a place where if you cause an accident, or fly out of your car and get picked up, it will impact the tax payers.

not only that, but there are requirements that you must follow to jump out of a plane OR be allowed to let people jump out of planes.



Not the same. especially when you take into account that you pay to be saved. So maybe, if you get in an accident and your seatbelt is off and because of you not wearing a seatbelt you cause other accidents or fly out of the window and it is required that police/ambulance are necessary, you have to pay for all of it out of your own pocket.



Still seems like a rather very minor thing to be bitching about. if anything, it's cheaper to wear one even if you are moving 2 blocks. I understand the whole "the man/stupid laws" argument, but it's rather lame for this one.

Feel free to try to dress me down with your stellar philosophy of the argument techniques and speech class notes you took.

But what if said sky diver falls splat in the middle of a highway?

 

[julius]

But what if said sky diver falls splat in the middle of a highway?

I believe they have rules and laws that prohibit sky-diving, and certain plane activities to take place over highways and city-scapes.

 

[julius]

I used to be lazy with the seatbelt too...then I was involved in a vicious car accident when I was 13. The seatbelt saved my life, and I haven't taken it off once since. You just don't know...you may be an excellent driver, but that won't help you when some drunken idiot runs a stoplight and smashes into you at 64 mph (like what happened to me).

These days, I won't take the car out of park unless everyone has their seatbelt on.

how do you get out of the car if you've never taken the seat belt off?

someone had to say it..

 

[PapaG]

Pretty sure Sam Adams is not the mayor of Tigard, and I don't think Beau Breedlove was an intern. But I agree the name is hard to top.

barfo

Local funds find their way back to municipalities, and eventually the state. Where does the money that comes from laws like this one actually go to? It's one big scheme, and each time a citizen is given a ticket for no reason, they should ask what happens to their hard earned dollars.

 

[PapaG]

I believe they have rules and laws that prohibit sky-diving, and certain plane activities to take place over highways and city-scapes.

Yes. The liberal argument, in a nutshell. Thanks to you, julius!

 

[Rodolfo]

You're pissed because you got a ticket. Stop taking a horribly stupid stance on something because you're out $109.

 

[barfo]

Local funds find their way back to municipalities, and eventually the state. Where does the money that comes from laws like this one actually go to? It's one big scheme, and each time a citizen is given a ticket for no reason, they should ask what happens to their hard earned dollars.

Well, I'd research the Tigard city budget, but (a) it wasn't me who got the ticket, and (b) I don't really give two shits about Tigard.

barfo

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Well, I'd research the Tigard city budget, but (a) it wasn't me who got the ticket, and (b) I don't really give two shits about Tigard.

barfo

Do you give 1?

 

[julius]

Yes. The liberal argument, in a nutshell. Thanks to you, julius!

Are you saying you're against rules and laws?

So we shouldn't have laws about what goes into water, what kind of paint goes on toys, seatbelts (period) in cars, or penalties for running red-lights and endangering others?

Seems kind of dumb to say that.

There are laws and rules about all sorts of things. you can't fly a plane over the white house for a reason. you can't dump oil into the Willamette for any reason (dumping turds, that's a different story). You can't have children sitting in the front seat of your car right when they're born.

If that's the "liberal argument", in which we're not safer as both a community and a person because of those laws, then we should be happy.

 

[barfo]

Do you give 1?

I did give one, it is on Denny's porch if you want it.

barfo

 

[PapaG]

Well, I'd research the Tigard city budget, but (a) it wasn't me who got the ticket, and (b) I don't really give two shits about Tigard.

barfo

(c) I'm completely inside of your head.

Are you a trust fund adult, or a PERS recipient? At this point, there is no way that I believe that you have ever owned your own business. If you had owned a business, then you wouldn't post such ridiculous things as they relate to the economy.

 

[Natebishop3]

You're pissed because you got a ticket. Stop taking a horribly stupid stance on something because you're out $109.

Alright, I'll be sure to reference this back when the state has outlawed red meat, cigarettes, alcohol, and anything else that might cause you harm. The government needs to protect you from yourself.

Don't talk to me like I was driving drunk, ran a red light, or was going 60 in a 30. The only person I could have harmed was myself and it's my right to do so. I don't hear you arguing against abortion or Dr. assisted suicide, but guess what.... those both fall under the same umbrella in my book. Your body and you can do what you want with it.

 

[PapaG]

You're pissed because you got a ticket. Stop taking a horribly stupid stance on something because you're out $109.

I think that freeloaders posting from NE Portland should pay a huge fine for not stopping at every stop sign while riding their bikes. I also think they should pay a bike fee to help pay for roads, just like auto drivers pay a fee.

Those fuckers are the biggest safety concern in the metro area.