"Bucket up or Pay up" - $100 fines for seatbelt violations in Michigan now. More nannystatism.

TV commercial on Pistons Basketball/TNT | 5-14-03 | Dan

[Dan from Michigan]

I just saw a commercial that caused me to vent. For all the crimes out there, who is the main target now, SEATBELT VIOLATORS. $100 for not wearing a seatbelt.

First, I always wear my seatbelt. I don't have to worry about anything on that. That's the point though.

The point is two things.
1. How am I harming anyone by not wearing a seatbelt if I make that choice? If I want to be a dummy, that's my choice.

2. Years ago when seatbelts became law, they said it would never become a primary offense to pull people over. Guess what? They LIED!

3. And now it's $100!!!!

The problem is that these insurance companies need to get kicked in the teeth a few times. These jerks the the problem with the nanny state, as well as charging a ton of money for insurance, which BTW is required by law.

What needs to be done? 1. End the requirement of insurance. If owner is at fault, either his insurance pays up or he does. If the one hit has no insurance and it is NOT his fault, use small claims court.
2. End the seatbelt law.
3. End the helmet law for motorcyclists. If insurance is no longer requirement, those against legalizing helmets do not have a valid arguement.

And no, this ain't about saving lives. That's a pile of horse manure. It's killing 2 birds with 1 stone. It's about REVENUE for governments from fines, and it's also saying "SIR! YES! SIR!" to the insurance lobbies, particulary AAA.

[Dan from Michigan]

And don't kid yourself; there are some of those on this very forum.

I've gone 10 rounds with them before, and will do so again I'm sure.

[goodnesswins]

If I remember correctly, here in Washington, the State, orders have gone out for officers to TICKET a certain amount of people for NON-seatbelt wearing (I could be mistaken).....and yes, we have the "Click-it or Ticket" signs everywhere.....I have one question.....

Do MOTORCYCLISTS have to WEAR seatbelts? (Or bicyclists, for that matter.) If not, why not? If they can drive without one, what's the deal with someone in a car not having one on (if they don't want to?) Or...are we pretty soon going to also have to wear helmets inside of our cars, too? I know this sounds like a dumb question, but it seems a good lawyer could use it to nullify the stupid seatbelt laws.

[Husker24]

Im not usually one to do this but........wright.....right

[Husker24]

Ohh good God im an idiot..........write..(hangs head in shame)

[uvular]

We got the same type of announcements here in Indiana; first I thought it was partially due to the upcoming 3 day holiday of Memorial Day. Could be, but there's been alot of stories in the past week about states not raising taxes, but resorting to 'fees and fines' to raise money.

Moved from home state of Michigan (50 year resident)last year, and one of the reasons was the dang no fault insurance.

[Bob Mc]

"Do MOTORCYCLISTS have to WEAR seatbelts? (Or bicyclists, for that matter.) If not, why not? If they can drive without one, what's the deal with someone in a car not having one on (if they don't want to?)

It is silly isn't it? I drive a motorcyle most every day. It's even legal to ride it without a helmet. I am at much higher risk of being killed or seriously injured than if I drove a car with no seat belt. But it's still legal for me to drive this much more dangerous motorcycle, and illegal to drive the car without the seat belt.

Don't expect the Nanny state to make sense.

[Darheel]

I asked a cop about why they don't ticket motorcyclists for seatbelt violations. He said "Gee, I never thought of that". Cops are usually the brutes that hazed you in high school, the bullies. Now they can pull you over and search you anytime with NO cause. The worst part is that COPS ARE UNION MEMBERS. After being crossed up a few times, I've learned my lesson.

[Revel]

The seat belt law has been pushed by the feds and enacted by the states for one main reason. And that was to condition people to be told what to do in the private areas of there lives. This was a great success and has led to an acceptance by the American people to allow the government to control and regulate areas of there lives that have no buisness being regulated under the ideas by which this nation was founded. Even the constituion is not respected anymore. All of this is leading us to the goals of the lust for power by those who have been corrupted by that power. Never content to have enough power they will always require more as long they can get away with it. Of course now that we have the seatbelt laws it becomes an irrestible source of money for politcal leaders.

[lennydetroit]

I have to get that off my chest.

Dan, you hit on something that's been on my chest for years -- the policy of using police manpower not to "serve and protect" but instead to harass and collect!

Down here in Hamtramck, MI our former mayor waged war on drivers with a viscious program of "overtime traffic control" in which officers volunteered to work overtime parked behind the downhill slopes of railroad abutments on the city's outskirts to snare speeders.

This month the chickens came home to roost. The city was hit with an $8.1 million judgment in favor of retired cops, most of whom don't live in the city and many of whom made more per year on the overtime program than they did in regular salary, because the city failed to count overtime pay when calculating retirement benefits. Now every Hamtramck homeowner will be charged $1500 or more in property taxes to pay for the award.

Regards, Lenny

[Drammach]

2. Years ago when seatbelts became law, they said it would never become a primary offense to pull people over. Guess what? They LIED!

Public statements were made to that effect, weren't they?
ANY LAWYERS OUT THERE?
What's the Legal Standing here?

Promises were made, publicly, that such a state of affairs would never come to pass.
Now that it has, can't this law be taken into court and repealed?

Can Civil Suits be filed against those politicians that misrepresented seat belt laws, or against those that now fail to honor the original intent and spirit of the laws as passed?
OR BOTH?

[Wacka]

Thank god for seat belts. I had an accident and with the belt on I came about an inch from kissing the windshield. If I didn't have it on, I probably wouldn't be here. All I ended up with was a bruise on my chest from the belt and a sore neck.

Who pays for people injured while not weraring belts when their insurance runs out- we do.
Who pays for the insurance company to pay his bills- we do with higher premiums.

[backhoe]

Dan, I mentioned this on another forum:

---

IMO, it's a shakedown racket, plain & simple- it's about getting more money via tickets and matching funds.

I ran a wrecker service here from 1991-1999, and previously in the 1970's, and I've seen every kind of car wreck you can name.

There is a lot of dis-ingenuity associated with seat belts, laws, and the police stories about them.

A common misdirection is a policeman's statement "I never have unbuckled a dead one..." which is true as far as it goes, but here in Georgia, a dead person in a vehicle is required by law to be unbuckled by an MD or coroner... see how it works?

Statistically, you have a 3 out of 4 chance of "being less severely injured if you wear a belt..."

What they aren't telling you is that you may be dead anyway- just "not as badly mangled..."

Also not mentioned much is that 1 in 4 occurence when the belt pins you down while you drown, burn, etc.

All that said, wearing a belt will usually help your chances, and if you are driving it performs the very critical function of holding you at the controls so you have some chance of further controlling the vehicle.

What I would really like to see is more information and choices- tell the driver just what happens in various kinds of wrecks, and let them decide which kind of chance they want to take.

---

Source:

http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=news_constitution&Number=615963&Forum=All_Forums&Words=backhoe&Match=Username&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=allposts&Main=612551#Post615963

[Dan from Michigan]

#@%^^@^

They are at it again. Radio ads. !#^!#!#

[Dan from Michigan]

Here we go again. :(

[bankwalker]

"Bucket up or Pay up"

Will this one make it to the FR hall of fame?

[Dan from Michigan]

I posted that a year ago. I normally catch myself quickly. I can't believe that's the first post that caught it.

[xp38]

Something for Hamtramck residents to think about when they get woken up by the Muezzin.

[bankwalker]

I posted that a year ago

Well, I'm not too slow, and I'm not too fast. I guess I'm just kinda half fast.

[ActionNewsBill]

And they right me up for parking on the street during the snow parking ban. By the way, there was no snow on the road, ground or even in the forecast. Go figure!

Same thing happened to me in Marquette....one week before the winter on-street parking ban was due to expire, I made the mistake of parking on the street.

No snow, no snow even in the forecast, 50 degrees and I got a $50 ticket.

Don't even get me started on these fascist seat belt laws.