Is the new seatbelt law unconstitutional?

There are several arguments I have with the seatbelt law... (I'm referring to adults, not children)

-depending on the size of the individual, the type of accident, and what you are doing at the moment of impact; seatbelts can actually cause injury.

So they are forcing us to wear a safety device that could potentially cause us harm. I'm not saying its safer to not wear a seatbelt, but at times it potentially can be.

-I'm only risking my own safety, and considering insurance is a private sector at the moment in America, medical arguments are mute...

What's next, will the government pass a law preventing me from sky diving, bungee jumping, Rick climbing, skiing, etc...

-if it is my religious belief to leave such things (like whether or not I die in an accident) wouldn't this infringe on freedom of religion?

There are crazier religious practices; drinking poison, handling poisonous snakes to test fate, religions that refuse medical care of any kind, etc...

We have had this law in place here for many years and at first it seems strange to buckle up all the time, but now I don't even think about it. It has been proven to save countless lives but of course now and again someone will be killed by not being able to get out of the car because they have a seatbelt on, but it is safer to use it.
Would you put a child in a carseat without buckling them down? Of course you wouldn't.

Originally posted by sparda4355
What's next, will the government pass a law preventing me from sky diving, bungee jumping, Rick climbing, skiing, etc...

More like the government passing a law preventing you from sky diving without a parachute, bungee jumping without a bungee, Rick climbing...who is Rick and why do you want to climb him?

Dear OP,
If you need to question whether something is constitutional then you must get to the root of the question.
Is a seatbelt law constitutional?
This leads me to, the right to drive,....
Wait, I do not have the right to drive, I have the right to travel.
Hmmm, if There is no right to drive and it is a privelege, I guess "they" can put any stipulations of priveleges that they want then.
Hope it helps.
Personally, I like an idiot to wear a seatbelt, so when he is driving like a total idiot he does not fly out of the drivers seat and crash into others.

reply to post by sparda4355


i've had friends saved by seatbelts and some who didn't wear them and got scraped up.. (you might not care if you die but there's people who will)....go with the safer option its the same as deciding to wear a life jacket on a sinking ship....drown at the time or die later by sharks or starvation.

its designed to preserve more than kill.

Go to youtube and search for people been flung out their vehicle from not wearing a seat belt, and while yes some times it can do more harm to wear a seat belt, the other 99% of the time it will save your life.

You dont want to be the driver that survives a car crash and all your passengers die cause you told them they dont have to buckle up, lead by example, especially when you have kids

You guys realize that seatbelts are not for your own protection right...

There are countless studies showing that you can recover a car better when wearing a seat belt. So wearing a seatbelt isn't for your own safety, it is to mitigate the potential hazard of losing control of your car.

So safety belts keep others safe besides yourself....so the government isn't protecting you, its protecting others.....

Government intervention isn't always what you think its for

Sometimes this type of thinking makes me laugh really.

Frankly who cares if wearing a seat belt is unconstitutional, or the law for it is? I mean first of all what does it matter? Second are we all supposed to unbuckle and then when some of us are killed in accidents our families can say 'oh well, at least he was supporting our constitutional rights'.

Come on, there is such thing as common sense and real life, lets not get too obsessed with words on a piece of paper.

reply to post by THEDUDE86


Also when you have an accident due to a pothole or something else that is the governments fault, you can claim from them for the damages "In most countries anyways"

Therefore the more injuries you have, the more they have to pay out, so of course they going to get a law passed that makes sure you wear your seat belt

Yes, they may care about our safety, but they also want the cash. The fine here just went up again for not wearing it, to $80.00.

The thing that really makes me angry, is when they lie when someone does die wearing one. We had a high school boy recently get into an accident, my husband and step father were behind him. They were trying to keep him alert until the police got there. They watched the police officer CUT the seat belt off him. He later passed away from his injuries. It was printed in the paper that it was unknown if he was wearing the seat belt. My husband tried writing the paper to let them know, even giving the officers name, but nothing else was printed.

Life is absolutely 100% fatal. No one survives it and we *ALL* die from it. Shall we live and die with freedom and liberty? Or shall we live and die with Uncle taking care of us and holding our hands against the dangerous of living?

I'll take the chance I get killed a bit sooner than old age had in mind for me. After all...we *ALL* die. Period. Sometimes, I really think people writing these laws don't get that basic fact as a REAL thing. They can take their Nanny-State laws and their do-gooder intentions to live my life for me and just stick it. :p

Originally posted by sparda4355
-depending on the size of the individual, the type of accident, and what you are doing at the moment of impact; seatbelts can actually cause injury.

Link? I've never seen data suggesting that seat belts cause harm, everything I've seen indicates that they save lives:

Seat belts are the most effective safety devices in vehicles today, estimated to save 9,500 lives each year. Yet only 68 percent of the motor vehicle occupants are buckled. In 1996, more than 60 percent of the occupants killed in fatal crashes were unrestrained.

If 90 percent of Americans buckle up, we will prevent more than 5,500 deaths and 132,000 injuries annually.

Originally posted by sparda4355-I'm only risking my own safety, and considering insurance is a private sector at the moment in America, medical arguments are mute...

Really?

The cost of unbuckled drivers and passengers goes beyond those killed and the loss to their families. We all pay for those who don't buckle up ­ in higher taxes, higher health care and higher insurance costs.

On average, inpatient hospital care costs for an unbelted crash victim are 50 percent higher than those for a belted crash victim. Society bears 85 percent of those costs, not the individuals involved. Every American pays about $580 a year toward the cost of crashes. If everyone buckled up, this figure would drop significantly.

By reaching the goal of 90 percent seat belt use, and 25 percent reduction in child fatalities, we will save $8.8 billion annually.

Originally posted by sparda4355-if it is my religious belief to leave such things (like whether or not I die in an accident) wouldn't this infringe on freedom of religion?

Now you're just being silly.

EDIT- forgot to post the link to the above quotes, here it is:

Link

I 100% believe in the seatbealt law and for that matter the helmet law. As others have posted it is more about helping you control the vehicle in my opinion. I have been in quite a few crashes and seen more than i can count (as a police officer) and i can say they work! Its funny but the ONLY time I generally dont wear a seatbelt is in my cruiser. Thats because I work for a city and generally dont even get over 45MPH. The belt hangs up on the Batman belt we wear to much to make it feasable. However when I do get those "hot" calls and I have to drive like a retard to get somewhere, you can bet it is slapped across me in a hurry!

Do you have the same question when you fly or when the strap you in on a ferris wheel - I built and raced C and B sports racers -- if you don't wear a seat belt in a car you tend to look up to idiots as the smart people in the room.

reply to post by sempul

Its funny but the ONLY time I generally dont wear a seatbelt is in my cruiser. Thats because I work for a city and generally dont even get over 45MPH

You said 'generally' don't even get over 45 MPH, so you admit you go above that speed without a seatbelt?
So what happens if you are in an accident if say someone hits your cruiser at the side of you and you are thrown to the other side out of control and kill someone because if you had a belt on you might have more control of the situation?
I see too many police drivers here in the UK that shouldn't be behind the wheel and think they are above the law because the work 'for the city'.
Maybe it isn't legal in your state, but here it certainly is, police as well.
I have been doing 70 MPH on a motorway here and police have passed me as if I was standing still with no lights flashing, no seatbelt and one even had his elbow on the door sill smoking a cigarette!

reply to post by sparda4355


I agree that a Federal Law that says we have to wear one is
un-Constitutional, it is, in reality, a no brainer. A seat belt will contain your body inside the vehicle in a crash, preventing it from being thrown out, and suffering further injury. Having driven a wrecker, I have seen my share of crashes. Of course, on the flip side, there are those, including myself, which would have been killed if we were wearing a seat belt in a crash. But those are rare.
Personally, I think all cars should have racing style 4 point belts with a quick release.

Originally posted by sempul
I 100% believe in the seatbealt law and for that matter the helmet law. As others have posted it is more about helping you control the vehicle in my opinion. I have been in quite a few crashes and seen more than i can count (as a police officer) and i can say they work! Its funny but the ONLY time I generally dont wear a seatbelt is in my cruiser. Thats because I work for a city and generally dont even get over 45MPH. The belt hangs up on the Batman belt we wear to much to make it feasable. However when I do get those "hot" calls and I have to drive like a retard to get somewhere, you can bet it is slapped across me in a hurry!

Wow... This just put me over the top! I drive under 30 to/from work... I wear a suit that gets very wrinkled making it less than feasible to wear a seatbelt. Yet if I choose not to wear my seatbelt, you'll freaking pull my ass over and ticket me!

I think the statistics are bull # too because I've hit a deer at 30 mph and a mini van at 45 mph, neither time Was I buckled, and both times I literally walked away without a scratch! Although I did break my cell phone when I hit the van...

I was not thrown from my vehicle, I didn't even hit my freaking air bag!

It's a money maker for the city! And you are all a bunch of propaganda spreading/cool aid drinking fools! Seriously!

Also... The DUI limit is bull#! Just sayin...