JC>  BA> belt in my car, but I don't think it is the state's 
JC>  BA> business if a person 
JC>  BA> wants to kill himself.
JC>  
JC> I agree.  It is not the state's business.
 JT> Unfortunately, the state often ends up paying for it, which, I 
 JT> imagine, might make it the state's business.
 
You might imagine that, but you would be incorrect.  There is plenty of 
self-destructive behavior that causes immense public expenditure that does 
not logically lead to laws banning that activity.
 
There is a multi-billion dollar industry that promotes over-eating and 
obesity in the United States.  Twinkies and McDonalds are under no ban.
Fat people are not required to wear muzzles when they enter McDonalds, even 
though they cost the State more money to treat their heart disease in a 
single year in the United States than all the of the head injuries world wide 
for the past 37 years.
 
In any event, public expenditure on medical care in the US is a red herring; 
the problem is not bicycle injuries, the problem is expensive insurance that 
47 million Americans cannot afford (and not really a topic for this 
conference).
 
When fat guys are pulled over and fined $60 for not wearing their muzzles 
within 100 feet of a fast food restaurant, I will take that argument more 
seriously.
--- Maximus 2.02
---------------