Should the wearing of seatbelts be legislated and why?
By crazynurse
@crazynurse (7482)
United States
January 5, 2007 9:44am CST
Beginning Jan 1 in my hometown, the wearing of seatbelts is mandatory. Here-to-fore, it was mandatory, but an officer could not stop/ticket a driver for not wearing the belt as a primary offense....only a secondary offense for another law infraction. (i.e., being pulled over for speeding). Now, one can be stopped souly for not wearing the belt. Should a driver be made to wear a seatbelt? Is it the driver's decision whether he/she wants to be safe? Is it important because the driver may/may not have health insurance and teh government will have to pay for their care in the event of an accident? What are your thoughts?
1 person likes this
3 responses
@beyonce03 (2331)
• Canada
5 Jan 07
Where I'm from if you don't waer a seat-belt the officer can stop you and give you a tickets. IT's the law and I think that it should be like this everywhere. And not only the driver should wear but everyone in the car. They made the seatbelt for our security and we should use it.
1 person likes this
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
5 Jan 07
thanks for your reply. I agree that all should wear the belts. Some people feel however that they should not be made to wear the belt...that if they don't care to die than that is their business. For instance, I know someone who won't wear a seatbelt for fear of not being able to unbuckle it in a fire or under water.
@alfieboy (14)
• Ireland
5 Jan 07
Since the mid 80's it's been illegal not to wear a seat belt in the UK. I now live in Ireland and we can get penalty points on our license and a fine for not wearing a seat belt.
Funnily enough I always wear one when driving or sat in the front seat, but never wear one in the back seat.
From a safety point of view the law is a good one, if you are involved in an accident you won't go flying through the windscreen if sat in the front, and there are cases of the passenger in the back killing the person sat in front of them because they were not wearing a seat belt.
We should all be sensible enough to wear seat belts, but it seems in some cases a law is required to protect us from ourselves.
1 person likes this
@loved1 (5328)
• United States
30 Jan 07
I always wear my seatbelt and I guess I feel like everyone else should too. It really is not that big of a deal is it? People get so crazy over this issue. I definitely think you should get a ticket for not having your children buckled up though. That just burns my butt to see a couple of kids standing up in the back seat of a moving vehicle.
1 person likes this
