Look, if it makes your daughter and you feel safer, you can wear a crash helmet while sitting in your car. I don't mind. I am tired of more and more regulation over matters of personal choice in our society. This is one of them. What is to stop them from making it mandatory for 12 year olds? Did we elect the legislators to pass this kind of regulation? Kids can't sit in the front seat in a lot of states because airbags have been proven to kill children under 12. Why isn't Ralph Nader being brought on the carpet for that? Now that I think about it, I think a lot of the problem stems from the increasing creep of socialized medicine. If the government pays for more and more of the middle-class medical bills, they will increasingly dictate what we have to do in our daily lives. End middle-class welfare now!
I think a lot of the problem stems from the increasing creep of socialized medicine. If the government pays for more and more of the middle-class medical bills, they will increasingly dictate what we have to do in our daily lives. Actually, speaking from experience, it is the hospitals who eat the costs of irresponsible parents - most of the time. Government (or private ins.) doesn't even begin to cover the costs of trauma medicine. Add to the mix the large number of uninsured. What to do? If it is the person's right not to wear a seatbelt, then should the hospital should have the right not to treat, since the patient's irresponsibility caused the trauma?
I am a real believer in personal responsibility, but those who refuse to take that responsibility, demand the finest technology to fix them up, then sue if the results are less than satisfactory. People need to be responsible for their own safety, but if they don't, they shouldn't expect to have someone else swoop in and clean up the mess they've made for themselves. BTW, I think that requiring a car seat for an 8 yr old is ridiculous, but having them wear a seat belt is not.