SB>Seat belts are also required because they protect more than just *you*.
SB>A driver who is being thrown about a car during an accident has less
SB>chance of gaining control of the car than one who is not.  He or she
SB>also has a greater chance of being thrown into another passenger, and
SB>killing or injuring them. Small children in car seats are almost never
SB>injured during accidents, unless they are seated in a front seat that
SB>has an air bag; or unless an unbelted person is thrown against them.
SB>                                   Sondra
Please let me jump in here then I will go in peace....
The mandatory seatbelt laws or MULs as Elizabeth Dole called them 
were brought about by vehicle safety standard 207. This standard 
was a compromise brought about by, of all people, the republican party
to protect their "10-4 good buddies" in the insurance and automobile 
industries. Seems as if the Federal government through research grants
handed out cupons for five dollars in 1982 to see if drivers would  
use seatbelts in the state of North Carolina. 
The above facts can be verified in a book published by the Highway
User Federation and available through the National Traffic Highway Safety
Administration.
Anyway, if states representating 50% of the population of the United States
enacted these laws by a certain date, which escapes me now, the air bag
requirement would be recended. What surprised me was that the Republican 
party claimed that the states could decide this issue. The states had
mucho help, for example about seven million dollars, if memory serves me 
correctly, changed hands, here in Tennessee. The money came from the 
foreign automobile industry, Insurance industry, and believe it or not
from the U.S. Department of Transportation. At the time these laws were
enacted, only twenty percent of the drivers used belts as estimated by
CNN.
As you can see this is NOT a law that a MAJORITY of the American 
citizenry agreed with. My conclusion is that Republicans nor
Democrats can be trusted. According to the above mentioned book,
the former Soviet Union enacted their Seatbelt laws in 1975. 
It just took the U.S. a few more years to follow suit.
As in the words of Harry Brown....Government does NOT work. The 
obvious solution is to legalize freedom and vote Liberiterian. 
I will go in peace now....
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   DeLuxe* 1.21 #8184   Arrogance and ignorance are brothers
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