Freedom of choice ?

[Doc Spock]

As we hurtle along with breathtaking speed towards a nanny state, why should I be forced to wear a seat belt in my car.
I would insist my passengers wore them as I am responsible for their safety. I am also responsible for my own safety so why has the government taken this responsibility over.

[Doc Spock]

Thanks for the response octavious. If my question is pointless what does it say for 99% of topics on B & S . Read thru them them you will see what I mean. Frivolous in the extreme but that's the nature of this site.

[Doc Spock]

My point exactly paul, it's common sense. What's to stop the govt. banning people from going up Blackpool tower in case they jump off and land on someone. Bit daft I know but the analogy is there.

[Doc Spock]

Well OK then , lets say it's a contributory factor to a situation leading to total control. Let's not even think of I D cards.

[Doc Spock]

ok paul good point, by the way we are not citizens we are subjects who are only allowed to do things at the behest of the monarchy. Another bone of contention to be discussed later.

[Cockney_si]

When you know of friends you gre up with that have died in car accidents as a result of not wearing seatblets you have a bit of a mature attitude towards the question.

Its the law, get over it or walk.

It's also nothing to do with wether I'm a southerner or not.

[Doc Spock]

I had friends who died in the back seat of a car on a motorway when a lorry ploughed into it. All were wearing seat belts. You can tweak statistics any way you like.

[tattoo1094]

Do you think seat belts are unsafe? And why would you insist your passengers wore them if you did nt have too surely its their responsibility as well,their life and so on......
If you cant be responsible for yourself then perhaps the government should be.Working in the emergency services myself i have seen too much unneccassary deaths do you want to be the next just because you dont like being told what to do.

[Octavius]

So are you hereby suggesting that if they hadn�t worn seatbelts they would have had control over their lives and had a better chance of survival? Or are you just stating the Govmt shouldn�t have insisted that these people wear seatbelts? The analogy seems to have gone awry.

[tattoo1094]

I can not believe the lack of intelligence. You would nt go pot holeing with out the proper equipment or mountaineering,you would nt go sky diving with out a parachute would you?!. I would love to show you the devastation it causes not just to you but to the other people that have been involved in accidents. Too many could have been saved by a simple clunk click.
Belt up spock its not big and its certainly not clever.
You do realise you dont have to wear one but you will be breaking the law it would be the responsible thing to do , too wear one would nt it???

[Doc Spock]

just saying it didn't make diddly squat.

[Doc Spock]

don't spit your dummy out tatoo, it's a discussion not an argument.
Last paragraph again in English please.

[unruliejulie]

Doc, my Mum was saved by her seatbelt a few years ago. I hate to think what would have happened if she hadnt been wearing one!
I do understand your point about the nanny state though (its bloody annoying to say the least) but there are way better examples than this one. This is for our safety and i for one would hate to be the poor sod who has to scrape bodies up off the road when there is no need for it to be that serious!
Also, just gotta say, i live in Leicester which has a large Asian population and i have to agree with Laurence. They seem blissfully unaware that its law to strap their kids in the car. i saw the last example of this on Sunday and its basically an everyday occurance to witness it. I dont know why but they dont seem to abide by the same rules on this issue.! sorry, just one of them things that gets my back up. Our kids are so very important.

[joko]

it all very well saying you have enough common sense to restrain yourself and your kids - but unfortunately the world is full of people who don't, and who will onloy think to do something if it is a rule and they may get into trouble if they don't

i know many people who for years didn't use a seatbelt, didn't strap kids in and also regularly drove with their phone clamped to their ear... these same people are now the ones who become most indignant, self righteous and disgusted when they see someone else now doing the same - suddenly everyone except them are idiots because they are not obeying the law - they only seem to have realised it is unsafe because they have made it into a law - so it must be bad...right?

they only seem bothered that they are having to follow a law, when someone else isn't.

so doc, you cannot rely on people to do the right thing, because many are too stupid to know what the right thing is.

[Doc Spock]

Thanks for everyones comments. Just a thought, are safety helmets obligatory for pedal cyclists as they are for motor cyclists.

[Octavius]

To go back to your friends�. Perhaps them wearing seatbelts did make diddly squat if they were in the back since if they weren't, they would have propelled forward and possibly killed the people in the front seats. Also, the driver of the lorry may have been wearing a seatbelt and also not propelled through the front window of his cabin and into the back of the car.

Sorry to say that your friends� incident was an accident, a tragedy and they were just unlucky to be in that place at that time. The circumstances might have more to do with speed, weather conditions and the car they were in rather than the government�s insistence that they would prosecute the driver should their passengers not wear seatbelts.

I doubt pedal cycles can reach the speeds of motorcycles, and those that do (Tour de France etc) are required to use head gear, as are horse-riders.