Seat belts usually save lives. Sometimes they kill. I do not believe that it should be law, because laws shouldn't be made to protect the stupid. If you don't wear one and fuck up your life because of it, there's no one to blame but yourself. But it really is a money grab, just like the red light cameras, the stickers for permit drivers, carbon taxes and all kind of other laws made to increase revenue. Taxing / fining people doesn't solve any of those problems, it just lines their pockets.
And, miraculously, babies and small infants of our generation somehow managed to survive without $500 dollar appliances that the average idiot can't install properly anyway. Baby seats aren't a bad idea for infants. Mandating them for all kids up to a certain age is just lobbying-fueled overkill that appeals to the typical hysterical suburban housewife.
I lump them all in together... I wear mine, but.....using them as a primary stop reason....is a little too much....
This is not an arguable point in my opinion for children 4 years and under. The studies done on morbidity related to auto accidents show that child safety restraints reduce infant casualties by 71% and children 1 to 4 years of age by 54%. Everything adds up and we wind up with 35,000 people killed last year in auto accidents against 52,000 killed in 1970. This despite the fact that there are 50% more people driving and the number of miles driven collectively is nearly triple 1970. There are a lot of contributing factors, including much better engineering (3 point seat belts vs lap belts or none, electronic stability control vs brake and pray, rack and pinion steering vs analog, power steering vs manual, better tires and road surfaces, etc). Everything contributes but when you look at the statistics the two factors that stand out are 3 point seat belts and electronic stability control.
When I was a kid I stayed in the back window of our car while we drove during the 70's. I lost a friend in a work related accident who was decapitated by the seat belt he was wearing. I don't begrudge the people who feel seat belts make them safer, but it should be a personal choice. Local and federal gov't. have no right to legislate seatbelts anymore than they have the right to tell you how much aspirin to take for a headache. The PC police can either go on ie...Bloomberg, or we can exhibit freedom of choice via John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty". I pay for my insurance unlike Obamacare mooches.
I think we can all agree on Infant seats....however, 1-4 is too large a cohort. 0-2, 2-4 would be better breakdowns. once a kidlet is out of a snap in carrier type of car seat, the 'booster seat' is a non-value added item, much in the manner Dierking described.... and as you pointed out there are myriad other variables going into the equation, post 1970...
nice thread....as much as i hate most "laws" this is one that i support - for adults and especially for kids..... do we have a thread for red light cameras??
Thanks for the idea! I only want to have one Debate Club thread going at a time, but I'll consider that for when this thread dies down.
The booster seat raises them up enough that they don't get seriously injured by the 3 point seat belts that are designed to safely restrain a person who meets minimum height criteria. Having the shoulder strap just beneath your chin is a good way to get a broken neck or even worse is a serious accident. Again, this is not debatable. Go look at your back seat belts and imagine a 4 foot tall person strapped into them. Now raise them up 4 inches and you'll see what the difference is. The booster seats guide the seat belts to safer locations on the child's body usually by use of plastic grooves that guarantee that junior isn't going to have their larynx crushed when 250 lbs of pressure is suddenly applied to them in a violent head on collision or somesuch. The extra height is part of the process. And yes, we all rode freebird in the 70's in the backseat as children. We all survived the experience. However none of the many kids who died in the 70's as a result of this are able to post of their experiences. They never had any after the day they turned into a high speed projectile in the back seat of their car during a bad accident.
Umm...I have 4 kids, from a 6'2" junior/entering Senior DB, to a entering 4th grader. Larynx crushed? the belts dont get there... once they are out of a car carrier, a booster seat helps, till about kindergarten age...once they areold enough for drop/off pick up...the normal car restraints are apropos, and as Dierking said, beyond that is a legal lobbying enforced stromg arm of the law enforced money grab.
Also a good idea. But I like to mix it up, so that'd be down the road a little, I want to switch topics each time and not do too much road safety stuff in a row. The next topic will probably involve something in a different area and I'll get back to road safety later on.
