Click it or ticket

townhall ^ | 5/24/06 | Walter WIlliams

[chrispycsuf]

you sound like such a libertarian..."its capitalism, stupid"

[Smokin' Joe]

So have your insurance rates gone down with all the seat belt legislation? After all, we're all safer now, right?

When I started driving, a significant number of vehicles on the highway did not have seat belts. The dashboards were made of steel, no padding, no airbags, no crumple zones, bias ply tires, no antilock brakes, no traction control computers, some didn't even have collapsing steering columns.

If you did not get into a wreck, you did just fine.

All those gee-gaws are really nice, but they are no substitute for paying attention, and not driving like a bloody idiot.

[absolootezer0]

You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege, and to keep that privilege there are rules to follow.

wow, that's a pretty socialist statement. i paid for my car, i own it, i have a right to use it. try inserting the word "shoot" (as in, shoot a gun) for drive and tell me where you stand. that's the equivalent. it's like saying, "you have a right to own a gun, but not shoot it."

[Leatherneck_MT]

"i think this is a great campaign...it keeps my car insurance down because my premiums go up every time a stupid person decides to drive down the road with out a seatbelt and hit another car and die. this has been around for about a year now in california and it has worked well. i have yet to get a ticket because im not stupid enough to drive without a seatbelt...its equivalent to bungee jumping without a cord...common sense people."

Most Communist Socialists do think it's a good idea.

Speaking of common sense, there's a book I recommend you read. It's called "Uncommon Sense" Probably written by a person you would loath.

His name was Thomas Paine.

[Emmett McCarthy]

It's always about the money. Here in Nashville, our mayor openly admitted that he wants a 33% increase in revenues from traffic violations. And he's got the police chief, who's a political hack and a sap anyway, sending his cops out there to collect. I wonder if they even bother writing tickets to the illegals they stop? I mean, if they don't pay the fine, they're not going to bother to arrest them anyway since it's too much trouble and won't bring in any money. I don't know that "traffic anarchy" is the result of this kind of thing, but trying to pretend that I have "respect for the law" gets tougher by the minute.

[unixfox]

You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege, and to keep that privilege there are rules to follow.

So...where do YOU draw the line? When they tell you what kind of car you HAVE to drive? That you can only drive from point A to point B? That only a certain class of people can drive?

What is is, mr lemming?

[DCPatriot]

You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege, and to keep that privilege there are rules to follow.

Privilege my a$$! You're a sheeple and you're full of it.

[Luke21]

These seatbelt nazis are the types of people that think big government is always good for us.

[dfwgator]

Nope the Second Amendment is pretty clear on guns, not so for cars, or horse-drawn carriages, if you want to go back that far.

[Toby06]

TWICE! Two times, the voters in Mass. shot down seatbelt laws, byt the legislature pushed them through anyway.

[from occupied ga]

LAPD officers were on foot patrol around the park and came up and told me I had 20 minutes to get my propane BBQ off of the property as propane BBQ's are now illegal to have in the park.

Yep just doing their duty - enforcing the law. In (maryland I think) I heard that they've banned charcoal grills for the same reason, but not propane grills (yet). Don't you feel all safe now knowing that the police are vigilantly protecting you from propane grills?

[RobRoy]

"The dept of transportation is saving lives and i applaud them for it."

They are a nanny state and I DON'T applaud them for it. No matter. You are obviously a woman. Women value "security" over individual freedom while men tend to reverse the priorities.

Preserving life at all costs is not the ultimate goal, otherwise men would not have fought and died for the liberties you enjoy, but are being etched away in the name of "safety". By all means, tell people belts are safer. Show them statistics. Plead with them to put their cars in carseats. Just don't make it the law!

[Atlas Sneezed]

"Each of us owns himself, and it follows that we should have the liberty to take risks with our own lives but not that of others."

That's a good pro-drug-use argument.

---

It's no more pro-drug than Williams' article is anti-seatbelt ("I personally wear a seatbelt each time I drive; it's a good idea.")

But there are lots of similar arguments against the "War on Drugs", which arguably has costs (police state, neglect of public safety enforcement) that exceed its dubious benefits (and which I will not engage in off-topic debate on this thread, so please don't try.)

[Wallace T.]

You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege, and to keep that privilege there are rules to follow.

That statement is more appropriate to an absolute monarchy or a Communist dictatorship than to our form of government, at least in theory. Under monarchism or Communism, the sovereign or the state owns everything and anything you do is by the permission of that authority. It is impractical for a road system to be owned by anyone other than a state agency, although some libertarians believe that roads could be privatized.

If the state must own the roads in a free society, what regulations are posted on the roads should be the minimum necessary to maintain order. Too often government, motivated by nanny state ideology or unduly influenced by insurance company and other lobbyists, have used their power over the roads to impose oppressive controls. The notorious 55 MPH speed limit of the 1970s and 1980s (which Hillary Clinton has proposed to revive) was the most egregious of these controls.

A sound adage in these matters comes from an old Hank Williams, Sr., song, "If you mind your business, then you won't be mindin' mine."

[Sir Gawain]

You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege

That tired old line is pure BS. If my taxes construct the roads, I sure as hell have a right to use them to go place to place.

[CORedneck]

Sounds like socialist drivel.

Where do we get this notion that driving is a privilege ?Privileges are subject to an arbitrary whim of some moron who has authority.

How did we as a country fall down so much that we need to have government special permission to transport ourselves with a motor vehicle ? We never needed a license to ride a horse or drive/ride a stagecoach. We didn't have to get government permission to ride a horse.

It seems we are going in the direction where the laws specify that you can do anything unless there is a specific law against the act. Under socialism, you cannot do anything unless permission is granted and that is the direction we are heading towards.

You do not have the right to drive, it is a privilege, and to keep that privilege there are rules to follow.

[Zeppo]

Wow, looking with amazement at some of these responses... Who knew that for so many on FR nanny statism was celebrated and Liberty was such a dirty word... May there be a zero-tolerance 55 mph speed limit with gps tracking, active government monitoring, and $1000 fines in your future...

[from occupied ga]

krackow picture

Ah yes, the originals, who redated the seat-belt kind.

[absolootezer0]

Who gave you the right to raise insurance rates both for automobile drivers and for healthcare costs? When you crush your body in a mangled mess, do you honestly think it doesn't affect everyone else? I wish that weren't the case and that drivers were totally responsible for their own stupidity, but that's not reality.

i pay my own insurance on health care, auto and life. in my life, i have already paid enough to cover pretty much anything that might happen to me in a car wreck. when we get onto complete socialised insurance for everything, then your arguement will be valid.

[chrispycsuf]

so is it alright to smoke medical marijuana, crack cocaine, crystal meth...it doesnt harm others if i do it in my home....the socialist government is keeping me down (sarcasm)...im being brought down by "the man"