Anonymous Part II

I received this comment regarding my post entitled I fought the law...and I WON!.  Considering that this poster didn't have the nerve to post his/her name I am going to respond to the comment here.

First of all, you're right.  I bet you weren't expecting that, huh?  Now, what you're right about is I do think anything I feel is asinine should just go my own way.  The reason you're right is because that's the way that most people think.  Amazingly enough that's the way humans work.  We all have our own opinions about issues and what I wrote is my personal opinion regarding this one.  I don't expect other people to agree with me, I just expect them to respect my opinions as such, just as I do for other people.  When people think something is asinine and want it to go there way, that's how change starts.  People that go before legislatures and effect change, who create new laws, who do things in their community, and who aren't afraid to stand up for what they believe have to start somewhere and usually it's with thinking something is asinine. 

I do not agree with the seatbelt law that all people in a "car" must wear a seatbelt.  I don't agree with it because that's infringing upon an adults right to make that choice for themselves.  I think the law should require all of those that are under the age of 18 to be probably secured but I do not think it should be a law for adults.  I personally choose to wear my seatbelt each and every time I get in a vehicle.  I feel safer and I know I'm doing the responsible thing by buckling up.  I require anyone who's in a vehicle with me to wear a seatbelt because it's the smart and safe thing to do.  These are my choices and I should have the right to choose not to.  A motorcyclist doesn't have to wear a helmet but if they're in an accident their risk of injury is much higher than a person not wearing a seatbelt.  The law doesn't make sense.  People in trucks or SUVs that have truck plates don't have to wear seatbelts.  This is a loophole that makes no sense.  Laws should be there to protect and help but not to take away choices such as these.

Generally an opinion on something like this comes from somewhere and I'll tell you where mine stems from.  I have a great aunt who was in a car accident many years ago.  She was severely injured and had to have one leg amputated at the knee.  She was not wearing her seatbelt at the time of the accident.  In most cases this would have been the cause of her injuries but in her case it probably saved her life.  She was thrown from the vehicle, which normally wouldn't be a good thing but the truck rolled, and considering the condition it was in after the accident, she was told that had she been wearing her seatbelt she would probably have been crushed inside the vehicle.  This is a personal incident that has affected my opinion, just as personal things affect everyone's opinions. 

One last problem I have regarding this issue is with the seatbelt checks that are done.  A HUGE amount of money is spent to have police officers sitting in the middle of the road, watching people as they drive by, to catch them not wearing their seatbelts.  Somehow we have money for that but no money for so many other things?  What sense does that make?  Sobriety checkpoints were found to be unconstitutional - unreasonable search and seizure.  This is the same thing.  I have not given any indication that I have done a thing wrong, yet I have a police officer looking in my car window?  This sounds a lot like unreasonable search to me.  Not only are police officers out there but so are regular employees that are getting paid to sit there and write tickets.  It makes me extremely angry that my taxes are going to pay for something like that. 

I am writing this for one reason and one reason only - to show people that until you know the whole story, or at least most of it anyway, you can't judge someone on a small piece of the story you read.  Try not to be so judgmental of others before you take the time to find out where they're coming from or where they're headed.