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Let's talk about seat belt laws
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Post by
TheMediator
Lately all the topics seem to be about whether or not God exists, but the number of political discussions has clearly diminished, and I find that disappointing. Therefore, I propose that we discuss something political -
Should governments be able to decide whether or not their citizens must wear seat belts?
I have my own opinion, but let me just start by saying something related to the topic. While seat belts do help reduce the amount of injury when in an accident compared to a similar accident without having a seat belt, some studies suggest that when people wear a seat belt, they travel at faster speeds than they normally would, and as a result increase their chances of getting into an accident. Considering that, there are some situations where mandatory seat belt laws are not as beneficial as their supporters believe them to be.
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
Consenting adults, no.
Children, yes.
Post by
Skyfire
Edit: What Hyper said.
Also, these hypothetical situations would be?...
Post by
124027
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Skyfire
Could I actually get some links. This has me dead curious...
I can validate that what he says is true (not that I have links on my hands).
Post by
124027
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
TheMediator
Even if it is true you then have to prove that the wearing of seat belts actually increase the number of fatalities on the road compared to the non wearing of seatbelts. If the number of fatalities increases then you shouldn't have manditory seatbelts.
I didn't mean to say one way or the other whether seat belts made things more or less dangerous overall, I just meant to say that one cannot conclude how much seat belts reduce (or possibly increase) accident fatalities merely because they reduce the amount of injury in similar situations. The use of a seat belt influences other factors of driving that have to be taken into account to get an accurate picture of overall effect that wearing a seat belt has.
Post by
124027
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Skyfire
Take two situations. One where nobody wears seatbelts. One where everyone does but a certain element drives faster due to feeling safer. If there are more road fatalities in the second example then no, taking away seatbelt laws due to fast drivers is not a stupid idea. It is in fact very smart.
The second case does not happen, and the first case isn't an issue anymore. The number of deaths has decreased undeniably.
I'd rather have a thousand injured than one dead. Perhaps a subjective pair of numbers, but the point should stand.
Post by
124027
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Post by
393249
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Post by
73830
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Post by
127599
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Post by
leonheart87
If seatbelts are so good at saving lives, why does public transport not have them installed?
I never could understand that.
I've been in 4 bus crashes this year alone. Not one of those buses had a seatbelt, except for the driver's (who very rarely wears it anyway).
Post by
Hyperspacerebel
Optional for anyone over
21
16. We need more organ donors.
You'd have my vote.
Post by
Skyfire
If seatbelts are so good at saving lives, why does public transport not have them installed?
I never could understand that.
I've been in 4 bus crashes this year alone. Not one of those buses had a seatbelt, except for the driver's (who very rarely wears it anyway).
When a bus crashes into another car, which "wins" (other than the insurance company)?
Post by
327953
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Post by
Hyperspacerebel
seat belts should be enforced....
i rather see 4 injured teens in a severe car accident saved by seat belts than 4 dead teens who didn't buckle up... this should be enforced...
think about the little kids!
We should also force anyone walking across the street to wear helmets, right? And not let snorkelers to dive down. And of course we should ban all motorized lawnmowers.
And twinkies....they gotta go too.
Post by
Skyfire
We should also force anyone walking across the street to wear helmets, right? And not let snorkelers to dive down. And of course we should ban all motorized lawnmowers.
Expected behavior is that cars be moving a certain speed, pedestrians to be moving a certain speed, lawnmowers to be moving a certain speed, and snorkelers a certain speed.
It is understood that each carries an innate amount of risk to the person. There is also the case where one mode of transportation interacts with a different other type of transportation, in which the risk associated with a given behavior is increased, as behavior has deviated from the norm. Ditto for one mode interactions with another of the same mode.
It should be made our effort to decrease the innate risk to a person, which means seatbelts for cars, as it has the highest cost to benefit ratio of restricting any of the others, given that the risk of danger is high during both interactions with other modes of transportation
and
of interaction with other modes.
It's the same reason we have bikers wear helmets. Really, your
sarcasm
analogy
fails.
Post by
129077
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