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From: bs@faron.UUCP (Robert D. Silverman)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.auto
Subject: Re: Massachusetts seat belt law
Message-ID: <416@faron.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 18-Dec-85 19:47:48 EST
Article-I.D.: faron.416
Posted: Wed Dec 18 19:47:48 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 20-Dec-85 05:22:46 EST
References: <294@frog.UUCP> <408@gcc-milo.ARPA> <272@encore.UUCP>
Distribution: net
Organization: The MITRE Coporation, Bedford, MA
Lines: 40
Xref: watmath net.politics:12567 net.auto:8847

> In article <408@gcc-milo.ARPA> john@gcc-milo.UUCP (John Allred) writes:
> >In article <294@frog.UUCP> tdh@frog.UUCP (T. Dave Hudson) writes:
> >>Here in Fascichusetts the new seat belt law is about to go
> >>into effect.  They are going to use the lack of a visible
> >>restraint to capriciously pull people over; all they need is
> etc.
> >Not quite.  It seems that Empress Dole (Sec. of Transportation) has decreed
> >that airbags will be mandatory (gag) unless n% (n > 50, i think) of the states
> >pass mandatory seat belt laws.  I, for one, would rather have seatbelts than
> >airbags.
> ...
> 
> The attitude in the U.S. generally, and in net.auto-land in particular,
> towards reasonable highway safety measures, is rather bizzare.
> 
> Seat belt laws are not simply a matter of somebody's right to be suicidal.
> The increased medical costs incurred by un-seatbelted
> accident victims are social costs.  Even if these costs are not re-imbursed
> through taxes, insurance, or other collective means, they represent
> an opportunity cost to the economy.  Since enforcement under the Mass.
> etc.
 
There are lots of things that people do that carry both direct economic
and opportunity costs. Smoking and Alcohol come directly to mind. Going
to ban those too?  We do not live in a risk free society nor should we
expect to. Many things that we do really 'aren't good for us' but we do
them anyway such as smoking and drinking. We already tried prohibition
and it was a complete failure. When in hell is the government going to
learn from that mistake and stop trying to regulate people's private lives?? !!!
I include in this the prohibition against things which are currently illegal
such as narcotics, prostitution etc. You cannot keep an adult from obtaining
something that he wants and the cost of trying to stop the unstoppable is
also quite high. Anyone have any idea what the government's futile attempts
to stop drug traffic costs us taxpayers each year?? Drug traffic has been 
around for thousands of years and no one has stopped it yet. Not to mention that
the illegality of drugs causes all sorts of associated crimes as people steal
to get money for their fixes!!!!  Let's put an end to 'victimless' crime
and get the blankety blank government off our backs!!!

Bob Silverman