Posted on 04/30/2009 7:39:59 PM PDT by inflorida
The Legislature on Wednesday sent a bill to Gov. Charlie Crist that would allow police officers to pull over drivers for not wearing a seat belt. The governor said he would sign the measure into law.
The law would apply to the driver and front-seat passenger but not back-seat passengers.
Until now, drivers could only be given a seat-belt citation if they were pulled over for another traffic infraction, such as speeding.
"Before you ever turn the key in the ignition, the belt should be buckled," said Rep. Kevin Ambler, R- Tampa, who said his life was saved by his seat belt in a 2004 car crash.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Charlie get the hell out of my car!
ping
Just another way for the Government to get their filthy hands on your hard earned money.
The last time this happened to me, it was on a 20mph road.
Cost me like $125
There were bicycles passing me, and bikers without helmets and pickup trucks with bedloads of kids on the highway.
But I was a criminale.
Why does America submit to this BS?
Now in Tx they can DEMAND your DNA as well.
Michigan has already done this (passed a “Click It Or Ticket” law) and they regularly set up “speed traps” and have several cop cars from various localities and will pull people over like crazy all day. Must be a big money maker because they do it a lot.
They started doing that in my state (Louisiana). My husband got pulled over driving to the grocery store which is 1 1/2 blocks from our house for not wearing his seatbelt.
To top it off, in a year’s time the fine will be quadrupled for those of us who choose to not drive Government Motors vehicles.
It irks me when the a state can require you wear a seatbelt in a car but NOT have to wear a helmet while riding a motorcycle.
What’s the govt trying to say?
We need yet another reason to invade your privacy, tell you whats good for you, take your money if you don’t conform, and you bikers can go kill yourselves for all we care.
LOL! It’s all about money. If you fit an innocent profile and don’t have the belt on you’re going to get hit. No arrest, no time, easy money.
With Nanny State Republicans like him who needs Democrats? There is no way not bucking up should be a cause for stop or even a moving violation.
In my state {Tennessee} Da Seat Belt Gestapo will pull your drivers license on the second offense. No other offense will result in this stiff a punishment except possibly a conviction of Vehicular Homicide. So who is pushing these Nanny laws? Big Insurance companies that's who.
There is a passage of Atlas Shrugged that deals with this. One of the characters said that the laws aren’t meant to be followed, they are meant to be broken so every man could be a criminal.
When the first seat belt law was passed in my state, they said they would NOT pull you over for that but only if you were stopped for another reason. Of course over time they changed it to this crap. Incremental loss of liberties and freedoms.
Bingo
Did a little search on Ambler - trial lawyer, personal injury type. “He is known for his “It Ought To Be A Law” program in which High School Teens in his district write laws and Ambler presents them in the House.”
That right there should disqualify him as a Republican, imho.
Looking for specifics of his car crash - no joy. Just as an aside - I had a family member that lived (didn’t drown) because he wasn’t wearing his seat belt.
Gov’t is for protecting individuals against the violation of rights _by others_ not by oneself (as long as those actions don’t harm others). The way these geniuses get around that is by saying that you “harm” others by causing insurance rates to be higher. Sigh.... That is part of the ‘contract’ with insurance - you agree to that, knowingly or unknowingly when you sign up or are forced to carry insurance by “law”.
And that’s another thing. In Ohio we have mandatory insurance for auto AND mandatory ‘uninsured’ coverage. IOW, by forcing citizens to carry ‘uninsured motorists’ coverage, the State acknowledges that they can’t enforce the mandatory auto insurance. Simply amazing!
I forgot to add the most important part. If Florida (or any other state) doesn’t pass a similar type law by the end of this year, they lose $35 million in Federal DOT funds. That’s how the Fed blackmails the States, of course.
I wish there were more Governors (and legislators) that would say ‘thanks but no thanks’ on these Federal coercions. That’s the way we got rid of the 55mph speed limit and the Brady law (to some extent).
The Fed can’t allow too many states to resist - it makes the Fed look too weak. And in the case of Brady - Janet Waco wouldn’t contest the cases in Ariz. and Wyo.(or was it Montana?) because she knew she would lose and therefore totally undermine Brady, nationally.
Yeah, except that the taxpayer does wind up paying for the idiots decision - so, as a taxpayer, I have no qualms about ticketing idiots who show no respect for me as a taxpayer.
Many years ago, when I just started working after college, a friend of mine said in regard to the state’s new seat belt law, “A government that can force us to wear seat belts can put us in chains.” At the time (~21 y.o.), I thought he was wrong; now I see that he was right.
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.