New seat belt law goes into effect today; hope is it will save lives (S.C. nanny statism)

The Times and Democrat ^ | December 09, 2005 | RICHARD WALKER

[NonLinear]

It doesn't take much of a collision to jar a driver loose from the steering wheel. In the event of a collision I would prefer the drivers remain in contact with the steering mechanism.

I disagree with your logic. Typically and almost by definition, a collision results from prior loss of control of the vehicle.

If the impact is significant enough to dislodge the non-belted driver from the wheel and the vehicle has a high enough residual velocity to impact more objects, the belted driver will not likely have more control, just less severe injuries.

In short, if the driver is playing pinball, and you're one of the bumpers, you're screwed whether he has his seatbelt on, or not.

[Between the Lines]

It's all about revenue enhancement and how many tickets can they issue to people not wearing seat belts.

While this is about revenue enhancement the $25 fines are not the real source of this revenue.

This in turn led to seat belt check points, which in turn led to ILLEGAL searches and seizures, which led to...well you get the point.

Combined with the forfeiture laws this gives the highway patrol pirates a real source of revenue.

IT'S ALL ABOUT MONEY!!

Always.