[M.T. Pockets]

The government regulates personal safety all the time. Just try to wire your own house without the gov't telling you how to do it and inspecting it for your own safety. Try installing your own sewer system without them telling you how to do it so it doesn't affect your own safety. I'm afraid they're used to it and it's here to stay.

They've required us to wear seatbelts on airplanes so we don't get hurt for as long as anyone can remember and people don't complain. Many states require hunters to wear blaze orange for our own good so we don't get shot at. Most states require us to wear or at least have a life jacket while boating so we don't drown. These are some other examples of the gov't protecting us from hurting ourselves.

Taking the time to buckle up doesn't seem like much of a hardship to ask of drivers. I don't like government telling us what to do anymore than anyone else does, but really, let's learn to live with it. If you don't like it - then bounce your legislator out of office and replace them with someone that will take the law off the books. By the way, the government does own the roads. We're the government and the people we elected made these laws.

I don't think it should be a primary offense, unless it involves unbuckled children. In Minnesota it is not a chargeable event as far as insurance rating.

Like Skeet, I've responded to more serious accidents than I care to remember as a firefighter. If someone is seriously hurt or killed because they weren't buckled in it has a much, much bigger impact than just them hurting themselves. If you've ever heard & seen a family member react after an accident you'd know exactly what I mean. It's tough on the emergency personnel too.

I don't think the gov't really has our own safety in mind, I think it comes down to the dollars it costs society for the extra medical costs and survivor benefits caused by the increased severity of the injuries.