Posted on 05/26/2006 9:23:51 AM PDT by WKB
Southaven - Not wearing a seatbelt will soon be enough to get you pulled over by police or state troopers in Mississippi. Saturday the state's new primary offense seat belt law goes into effect.
Right now the Mississippi has a secondary offense seat belt law. That means officers need another reason, like speeding, to pull you over. It's only after you pulled over that officers are allowed to ticket you for not buckling up.
Law enforcement officers can also pull a driver over if they notice that his front seat passenger or anyone in the vehicle is not wearing a seat belt.
Law enforcement officers throughout the mid south plan to beef up their patrols over the long holiday weekend. Troopers in Mississippi plan to set up road blocks in several parts of the state to check for seat belt use.
Mississippi is the 23rd state where officers can pull over a driver for not wear a seat belt. Tennessee passed a primary seat belt law back in 2004.
The new law in Mississippi carries a maximum fine of 25 dollars per vehicle.
They don't all drive "Rascals"...or pull 02 tanks.
That being said...I surely furrow my brow at those who outwardly appear healthier than I.
rember, all we want to do is get cigarette coms off the air?i rest my case.
This is what is already done. The hospital sends the bill, the usual irresponsible person who'd DUI in the first place has no assets and the state minimum insurance coverage - if you're lucky - and you and I eat the balance. Every time.
Per the NHTSA, 85% of collision related medical expenses are paid by someone else. Other policyholders, other taxpayers.
Whatever. I know I feel safer when I'm buckled in, and everyone else is, too. I have one of those nifty seat belt cutter/window smasher tools, just in case.
Another personal story concerning that:
A bowling buddy didn't show up one week which caused the team some concern, so the next week everybody was waiting to hear what had had kept him away.
Turns out he was T-boned in an intersection and ended up with his car on its top and he was suspended alone caught by his shoulder harness; a kind soul walked over to the car to ask if he could help and when our friend said yes, the guy cut his strap, slipped his wallet out of his pocket and high-tailed it down the street.
Let's face it, driving has so many risks we can't even name them all, let alone pass laws to try and eliminate them.
Great post. You summed it up perfectly for me.
Yep, that is the whole deal...an excuse to search for drugs and/or money...
I like this law. No amount of skill or alertness can prevent another vehicle from crashing into yours, in which case you're at much greater risk if not buckled up. Reality can bite. It can bite harder if you're in a stupid zone...
I would be more inclined to say that it can imply that those people's judgment is inferior and they must be protected from themselves. That doesn't have to be the case.
Sometimes people take unreasonable risks because they don't understand the risk. If you are trying to keep them safe by simply informing them of the risk so they can make more informed choices, you aren't interfering with their freedom.
When you start misleading people, you're no longer helping them make informed decisions, you're trying to manipulate them.
I feel that informing people is good. Manipulating them is bad.
Restricting people through regulation or action is a different related issue. Let me just say that we have set the bar for when we allow and expect the government to step in way too low.
"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against... We're after power and we mean it... There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." ('Atlas Shrugged' 1957)
"I never unbuckled a dead person at an accident."
Boy, is that ripe for Clintonist interpretations.
"I only ever saw 10 fatal accidents", "I never took ANY dead person OUT of an accident scene", "I've never been to a fatal accident", "I didn't do it, but my partner did" etc, etc, etc.
"Click It or Ticket" is working here in Washington.
There will always be those people that just won't buckle up for any reason and those just to complacent to think that that little trip could be their last. Can't legislate away stupidity I always say. Case in point just recently three local teens ran off the road and hit a tree. The two buckled kids in the front seat survived the accident, but the unbuckled teenage girl in the back was thrown from the vehicle and killed.
Any primary seatbelt law will be abused. As an example, I was driving along and had just answered my cellphone (which in my state is legal to operate while driving) when I passed a statetrooper in the median. He pulled me over and told me I was talking on my cellphone and not wearing my seatbelt. I always wear my seatbelt. I was sitting there with it on too. Deputy Fife just didn't like the fact that I ignored him as I drove by talking on my phone and he pulled me over for that reason. The primary seatbelt law gave him the right to pull me over give me a ticket for a seatbelt violation when it was in reality a ticket for talking on my cellphone, which is again, legal. So there you go, an officer using the law for his own pet peeves. Next they'll be after the fat people, and users of salt.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.