Irony!

[78 Chevyrado]

It's both funny and not funny at the same time...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/03/national/main20076546.shtml

[jaredts]

Irony is right!  I support people's freedom when its not hurting anyone else.  This is America.  On the other hand some freedoms need used with extreme caution.

[1979C20]

In the same respect of freedom, I belive seatbelts should be optional, not mandatory. Its your body your putting on the line, no one elses. And, my grandfather whom im named after, died in a car crash 2 years before i was born BECAUSE he was wearing his seatbelt. My grandma who was in the same car, LIVED because she wasnt wearing her seabelt and was thrown out the passenger door. And, somehow out of the 4 times ive been pulled over the cops have never said a thing about me not wearing my seatbelt.

[big bear]

now you jinxed yourself lol

[Dr_Snooz]

The trouble with giving people the "freedom" not to wear seatbelts or helmets is that it's great until they hurt themselves. Then they want SSI that everyone else gets to pay for.

[ssapach]

People not wearing seat belts can become projectiles which can hurt other people.

And also, as mentioned.....the cost due to injuries.  Costs everyone will share.

That being said, I'm not Mr. Perfect either.....quite often I don't wear a seat belt around town.

[Fuel Truck]

He died fighting for his freedom I guess.... what an idiot

[1979C20]

now you jinxed yourself lol

Im not superstitious, so ill be fine. Besides, in arizona its a seconfary law. You can get pulled over for not wearing your seatbelt, but you can get a ticket for it if your pulled over for something else.

[78 Chevyrado]

The trouble with giving people the "freedom" not to wear seatbelts or helmets is that it's great until they hurt themselves. Then they want SSI that everyone else gets to pay for.

I agree with that one.  if your gonna ride helmet-less, you shouldn't be able to do any suing or clamis of any kind.  Ya know, hey you can do anything you want, but you're not gonna suck the system dry to support your stupidity.

And I don't care who wears seatbelts or not, unless its my family or someone sitting behind me in the same car.  I just wear mine cuz I know first hand how nifty they can be at saving my dumb butt.  

I also like that in GA if they're over 16 and not wearing a seatbelt in YOUR car, THEY get the ticket, not YOU.  shoulda seen the look on my friends face when he got a $100+ fine, and they can and do stop you for no seatbelts.

[big bear]

i agree,  i wear mine now out of habit.  when i was younger, i refused too wear it. then i got 3 seatbelt tickets in 2 months and i said , ok time to buckle up haha

[Irish_Alley]

let me tell you about 3 experiences with seat belts. one in 97 my mom drove her truck into a soy bean field flipped it end over end she was thrown out the back window and the truck bed smack her forward. the truck stopped right next to her if it would of flipped one more time she wouldn’t be here. now she only had a chip in her thumb bone from all this and some bruises on her back. in about 03 after school i worked with my cousin Dustin at a shooting range after work we would party smoke & drinking with his best friend just teenagers having fun. till my now wife found out. she made me quit smoking so me and my cousin stopped hanging out. about half a year went buy i would still stop by my cousins house talk with him and his friend (his friends girl mad she was one of the reasons i went over there lol) but shortly after his friend was driving a car his girl beside him my cousin in the back and (where i would have been if my wife didnt step in) was another friend where goofing off ran across the highway got t boned flipped the car into a field and none of them where buckled in. i know three out of the four got ejected not sure about the driver (his best friend) the one friend in the back was killed instantly, my cousin was halfway out the car when it rolled a couple times on him, and the drivers life love was killed also. so out of 4, 3 died the only one who survived was the driver i dont know if he was buckled in but i cant even imagine what he feels like. and the last story i know i told before but the newer members dont know it was in 07 i think but i wrecked my car slid sideways my big head went out the sunroof while i was going into a ditch and the car rolled on its side enough for grass and mud to be on the side of my face when the car finaly hit ground i didnt roll and i wasnt buckled in. but something else yeah it maybe your life but you are someone’s kid or parent

[1979C20]

I would rather be ejected from a vehicle through the windshield or wherever else, then be trapped.inside of it if it were to catch fire. If I get ejected, hopefully the worst that will happen is a concussion, maybe broken bones, scratches. If im trapped inside, broken ribs, broken collar bone, possible burns, whiplash, partial decapitation like my grand father, etc. etc. etc. so I would rather not wear a seat belt.

[Irish_Alley]

i can see why but even the one friend that was in the back i didn’t say it before but he was decapitated. and i was the same way as you till my accident knowing if the car would of rolled i would be dead. i make sure everyone is buckled and the cops will usually be easier on you if you are. either way has its pros and cons stay inside you may get burnt if it catches on fire could happen a couple years ago this woman in a suv collided  head on with another suv they both caught on fire both driver where killed instantly but the kids in the back that where trapped in car seats wernt so lucky. or the car could roll on you after being ejected.

[big bear]

yea. pretty much a lose lose situation.

[Psycho71]

Riding w/o a helmet, dumb! Driving or riding w/o a seatbelt on, usually not so smart either.

Should I have the right to make that decision for myself? You bet I should. There is this thing called "natural selection" that I feel helps work things like this out in the long run. While no-one wants to see anyone die or get seriously injured from not having the proper safety equipment in place, it really shouldn't be up to the gubment to dictate what I do for my own safety, or even my child's (to a point). It is a slippery slope we are sliding down as a society, that our gubment uses every opportunity to step in a remove personal freedoms one by one, all in the name or "public well being". The main issue with allowing the gubment interference, on even the most basic things like wearing a seatbelt, is where does it all end? Transfats in food, smoking in restaurants, and any other infringement on personal or business owners' rights that should not be.

 All of these laws have the same argument behind them, they save the public money by minimizing the gubment benefits paid out through the health care and other "entitlement" programs. Well the easy solution is one that will never happen....I/We have to pass a drug test in order to have the job that I/We pay taxes with, so why shouldn't the people drawing all of these "entitlements" have to pass a drug test to get the money I/We pay in?

But I digress.....

Ultimately, Darwin's theory wins out, or it should. Removing natural selection from any species/society results in it's downfall ultimately, and down that road we travel as I type.

Do i feel for the guy's family for their loss, yes I do. But he was a grown man, made a decision, and paid the price for it. That in itself is it's own lesson, and anyone so stupid not to learn from it deserves to suffer the same consequence if they find themselves in the same situation. That is a hard way to look at things. But, the "meek shall inherit the earth" does not necessarily mean it is a good thing in the long run.