Aren't laws such as Seat Belt Laws just scams to get your money?

Question

I mean a few days ago, I received a ticket for driving without a seat belt, even though I was wearing it. I put the cross strap under my arm so it will not cut into my neck. But this prevented the officer from seeing it, and trying to explain this was like talking to a post.
When I paid the ticket, the fine was like $53, and all of the fees added onto it made the total $143.
Well, you can say what you want but you cannot convince me for a second that they are really that concerned about your safety in this great state of Texas.
You can ride a motorcycle in P.E. shorts, and no helmet at all. (Which pretty much guarantees you will be maimed or killed.) Now if this was really a big safety issue, I feel that they would not have repealed, yes repealed the motorcycle helmet law a few years ago. Guess there weren't enough bucks for fines on that. But the Seat Belt law is a gold mine. Even though they have no business telling me what to do in my own car!.

Answer 1

I don't like the law at all. In ten years of service I have written maybe 6 seat belt tickets. It doesn't hurt me or any other car around you if you aren't wearing it.

Answer 2

I don't think it's a scam. I feel that they really do keep some people, who wear them, alive. My state has a mandatory seat belt law, I follow the law & buckel up! Yesterday, in a neighboring county, 2 young men were killed in an auto accident, no seat belts. The police went to the scene & got those two taken to the morgue. Later, a Dad went to scene because his son was supposed to be with the two that were killed, he had called the police & was told that they had found no one else in the car. This Dad found his son & another boy laying a few feet from the car, dead; no seat belts! Imagine his horror to find his son & the other boy left at the scene; perhaps they were not dead when thrown from the car but, if they had worn the seat belts they would have been in the car & possibably not killed. Yes, the police were idiots for not doing a better job of investigating the scene of the accident!

Answer 3

Feel Better?

1. If you're stupid enough to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, then you deserve the consequences.

2. I was in an accident years ago. A car turned in front of me. I used to never wear my seatbelt, but on that night - for a reason I will never know - I put it on. When I woke up, I was laying across my front seats, still wearing my seat belt. I was seriously banged up, and had a lot of cuts due to flying glass. But the officer that helped me out of my car told me that if it weren't for that seat belt, I would have sailed through the windshield and would have been killed.

So you will never convince me that a seat belt law is a bad idea. They make special things to aid in the cutting of the belt into your neck, or it being the wrong height for you.

You have every right not to wear your seat belt, but the officer has an obligation to give you that ticket if he catches you. TSOL.

Love and peace,
The Volleyballchick

Answer 4

This sounds like more of a whine than a question. Nevertheless you seem to have been hard done by. You could contest the ticket. A properly worn seat belt shouldn't cross your throat. Get it fixed. Don't want your head rolling down the highway.

You're right about motorcycles. Who the heck would repeal a motorcycle helmet law? Guess it's different here. We have government auto insurance and even the angels need to wear helmets hear.

Answer 5

In New Hampshire, there is still a push by some to add a seat belt law for adults. My sister-in-law is one of those who was in an accident where had she been wearing a belt, she would have been killed. In the accident, she was somehow thrown to the back seat; the steering wheel was pressed into the driver's seat with such force that had she been there, restrained by the belts, she would have been crushed.

I think that on average, seat belts do save lives, but not always.

Passing laws to prevent drivers from hurting others is fine. Seat-belt laws are something different.

Answer 6

I definitely see your point of view. Just picture it this way....If there was no government or an agency watching over citizens then it would turn crazy. Maybe using your story as an example wont produce a strong case but it's the gist of it. It's very possible that the state uses seat belt infractions for a large source of money. It's possible they are doing it for your safety as well as the safety of others. Usually a good way to look at things is....they must have put a seat belt law into effect because too many people complained that they didn't have one. I know that sometimes laws are made up out of thin air for whatever reason....but yes it's hard to understand but it's a law and they say you have to do it. No matter how stupid it may seem or pointless...it's there. Best idea is to follow it.

Answer 7

Sure they have business telling you what to do in your own car.

You are not allowed to smoke a joint while driving. You can not get a bl0w job while driving. You are not allowed to watch a movie while driving. You are expected to follow and obey all rules of the road while driving... and so on.

Please remember - driving a car is a privilege - not a right. You are allowed to drive b/c the state of Texas granted you a license (that they have the right to take away should you meet certain guide lines).

Also seat belts do save lives. As do helmet laws for motorcycles and bicycles. It is unfortunate that the motorcycle lobby is strong in many states and have succeeded in getting helmet laws repealed. If you disagree strongly with the repeal of the helmet law - contact your local state senator. I assure - the motorcycle lobby called him/her to get the law repealed.

However, it is better to require seat belts and no helmets than neither (that whole 2 wrongs don't make a right bit).

Answer 8

YES! I'm with New Hampshire (my nearest State with a brain). Over 18, then a seatbelt is optional, just don't ask me for my money if you go flying through the windshield. Do you know what is even better than that?? The states with mandatory seat belt laws, but no laws against riding a motorcycle without a helmet!

Answer 9

To some degree you are correct. Many laws on the books are there strictly for the revenue enhancement aspects. altho no one responsible for passing or enforcing those laws will admit that. Many safety regulations just make good common sense, but I also feel it's not the lawmakers place to run your life. But they have no shame.

It's one of the reasons I could never be in law enforcement. I would be ashamed of myself the first time I ended up working on a speed trap detail. Ruining a persons life (fines, increased insurance premiums, etc.) in order to make a few bucks for the department. Protect and Serve? Really. Mind you, I've never had a speeding ticket, or any other for that matter. I'm not for doing away with traffic laws, just the way they are enforced at times.

Answer 10

Well,they say they are concerned for safety, but everything is about money if you dig deep enough. it saves the state money to make you wear a seat belt., cuts back on emergency medical care when you get ejected through your windshield and break your whole body and need the helicopter to take you to the hospital all which costs tons of money, when if you were wearing your seat belt,you might not even need an ambulance. If you are on a motorcycle without a helmet youll probably just die, and not even need all the medical care.And your right, it also makes them money to catch you without it too. It all goes back to money no matter how you look at it.

Answer 11

Unless you are particularly short, the seatbelt shouldn't cut into your neck. Most cars these days have a height adjustment for the seatbelt. If you have the chest strap under your arm, then it no longer protects you. That's the whole point of wearing a seatbelt properly.

Driving a vehicle, in any manner seen fit by its driver, is not a constitutional right. For the safety of all citizens, the states pass laws to require proper seatbelt usage, prohibit hands-on cell phone usage in several states, etc. And people not wearing a seatbelt properly only drives up the cost of auto and health insurance for the rest of us.

While there maybe a few "one in a thousand" cases where a seatbelt causes more injury than not, just read your local paper for a week. The majority of the people who die in auto accidents are NOT wearing seatbelts, even though a great majority of drivers in our country use them.

Politicians owning stock in helmet and seatbelt manufacturers? Pretty funny. . .

The motorcyclists lobbied to remove the helmet law. It wasn't because there aren't enough motorcyclists to ticket- think about it- it would be much easier to ticket a motorcyclist not wearing a helmet versus a car driver not wearing a seatbelt.