The spread of seat belt laws across this nation represents the kind of creeping socialism lovers of freedom and responsibility detest. As competent adults, we make hundereds of decisions about my health and well being every day. We decide to go to work, pay bills, keep our wet fingers out of electrical outlets, etc. Yet the government has decided that we cannot handle making a simple decision about whether or not we wear a seat belt. Failure to wear a seat belt (in most areas) carries a fine between $10 and $100 plus court costs and any other surcharges the local grubberment cares to impose.

This is not a huge sum, but the principle of "Big Brother" knowing what is best for capable individuals really bothers Liberty Activists! Being forced to wear seat belts by our ever increasingly intrustive government is a small thing...or is it? Pointing out such "small things" to an increasingly apathetic public is often a "selling point" for Liberty Activism...who knows what spark may light a flame?

For the January Action of the Month, Liberty Activists suggest that you take the time to publicize the following information about seat belt laws...included is a Letter to the Editor for you to download and send to your local paper, and a poster/flyer for you to download, copy, and hand out or post in your local community. (See the Liberty Activist FLYER page for tips on producing and distributing flyers.)

Thanks to George and Joyce Hoerman sonic@mddc.com for this month's Action Idea! Keep those Action Ideas coming in! (Submit ideas to ACTION IDEAS.)

All 50 states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have mandatory seat belt laws. 11 states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) have "Primary Belt Use Laws".See UPDATE These laws enable law enforcement to stop drivers, or set up checkpoints for no other purpose than enforcing seat belt laws. Fines currently range from $10 to $95.

On January 23, 1997, President Clinton issued an Executive Order directing all agencies to: require on-the-job seat belt use for all federal employees; directing the Department of Defense (DOD) and the National Park service to institute programs and policies to increase seat belt use on DOD installations and in National Park areas; encouraging Tribal Governments to adopt programs and policies for highways on Tribal lands; and encouraging government contractors, subcontractors, and grantees to institute on-the-job seat belt use programs and policies for their employees.

Congress has yet to enact and fully fund Section 2002 (m) of the Administration's National Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act of 1997 (NEXTEA) which provides incentive grants to states for improving their "occupant protection programs" or their seat belt use rates; and Section 11006 of the Surface Transportation Safety Act of 1997 which provides for a transfer of a certain percentage of a state's highway construction funds to safety programs, beginning in FY 2003, if the state fails to enact "Primary Seat Belt Laws" or fails to reach specified seat belt use levels.

Some in the Administration want the Department of Education to have health and safety officials in school districts include the proper use of seat belts and child restraint systems in their health and wellness programs. They would like to see the adoption of national traffic safety curriculum for grades K-12. The Department of Health and Human Services already conducts such programs and is considering promoting "passenger protection initiatives through the Centers for Disease Control, Prevention's Safe America program and the Head Start Program. There was even a short lived federal regulation that madated interlocking the vehicle engine with a seat belt sensor so that the vehicle could not be started unless all seat belts were fastened. An intense consumer reaction led to its cancellation.

Most of this information is courtesty of the Safey, Environmental, and Security Office Code 205 website. http://panza.gsfc.nasa.gov/205/205-2/Safety/newlaws.htm The final paragraph is from http://www.diversicomm.com/obleg/seatbelt.htm This guy (Warren Howard) has apparently invented a device that won't let you use your car's radio, stereo or heating and air conditioning systems and is now trying to market it.

UPDATE:From: George Hoerman, 11 Jan 1998

14 States now have "primary" seat belt laws. Information on this plus penalties for failure to knuckle under related to CIVIL litigation (I didnt know about this when I wrote the Action) can be found at http://www.hwysafety.org/facts/restrain.htm.

Yours in Liberty,
George

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