Mandating Seat Belt Usage vs. Freedom of Choice
SOC120: Introduction to Ethics and Social Responsibilities
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How do you feel when you are told what you will or will not do? You may be told that it is for your own good, but who has the right to decide what is or is not good for you? After all who knows you better than you do? This brings me to the topic of my discussion. Even though there are some statistics that may show a lower rate of injury or death if you wear a seat belt when in an automobile accident, I do not feel that the government has the right to make wearing a seat belt mandatory for adults because by making seat belts mandatory it takes away from our right to freedom of choice, and wearing a seat belt does not eliminate the risk of injury or death as people have been injured and/or killed due to wearing a seat belt
Current seat belt law originated from federal legislation in the 1960s that made it mandatory for all automobile manufacturers to include seat belts in their vehicles as a standard feature. Originally, the purpose of a seat belt was not to protect the occupants in the case of a crash, but rather to physically keep them in the vehicle, as driving was bumpy business.
However, in today’s times, mandatory use of a seat belt falls under various states purview. Each state implements its own laws regarding enforcement of seat belt use. Forty-nine states have adult seat belt laws as of 2009. New York was the first state to pass seat belt laws in 1984 and other states followed suit. In 1994, North Dakota became the last state to pass such a law. Currently, New Hampshire is the only state that does not mandate seat belt use for adults (Sefcik, L, 2010).
This issue touches on et...
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...ults because the bill of rights guarantees each of us the right to the freedom to care for one’s health and person, and freedom from bodily restraints or compulsions. The constitution, after all, was written for a reason. It was to protect our freedoms and rights in individual matters of choice, and to prevent the tyranny of others in dictating those highly personal choices, and to prevent our leadership from unduly legislating excessive societal oppressions. Is this not what the passage of the seat belt law has done?
References
Sefcik, Lisa, 2011, Seat Belt Law History, eHow.com, Retrieved April 7, 2011 From:
http://www.ehow.com/facts_5008257_seat-belt-law-history.html
Mosser, Kurt (2010). Ethics and Social Responsibilities. Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved
From: https://content.ashford.edu/books/AUSOC120.10.2
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... which fits into the discussion is the law of wearing a seatbelt. Not wearing a seatbelt while in a car is a good way of possibly causing harm to yourself. And according to the Harm Principle this should be allowed because you, as the person in the car, are deciding if you are going to put on your seatbelt. If the car were to crash it would have been your decision to not wear the seatbelt, so how can this be a government law? Putting or not putting on a seatbelt should be your decision because technically you are not causing harm to others, just possibly to yourself. If putting on a seatbelt is a law, why is a law against suicide not established, is it not basically the same theory. Allowing people to cause harm to themselves even if allowed by the Harm Principle does not only hurt the person doing the harm but also others around him, even if it is unintentionally.
Seatbelt is a very important component when we all drive a car or other vehicle. The main purpose of seat belts is to provide greater safety to the driver when driving car but at the moment, people do not care about the importance of wearing seatbelt.
Car accidents are the leading cause of death for people under the age of 35. Wearing a seat belt can prevent death in about half of these accidents. Did you know that every 15 seconds someone is injured in an automobile accident if they are not buckled up, or that every 13 minutes someone is killed in a crash. Failure to wear a seat belt contributes to more fatalities than any other single traffic safety related behavior. According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration seatbelts saved nearly 12,000 lives in the United States in the year 2000. The NHTSA estimates that more than 9,000 U.S. car accident fatalities in 2000 would have been avoided if the victims had been wearing seatbelts. Sixty three percent of the people killed in accidents were not wearing seat belts. The NHTSA a...
We have all heard the excuses before, “do I have to wear it? It isn’t like it’s going to protect me,” “it’s uncomfortable, I’m only going around the corner,” or “I’d rather be thrown out of the vehicle than to be stuck in a seat belt.” No matter how good of a driver you are, or you think you might be, there are always situations that are beyond your control. Such as, bad weather, drunk drivers, and road conditions. Sometimes, seat belts can be a life or death in an automobile accident. Not only is wearing your seat belt every time you get in a vehicle, but it is required by law in 49 states, with the exception of New Hampshire. Although seat belts are known to lock up and wrinkle your clothes, I believe that wearing your seat belt is beneficial because every fourteen seconds someone is injured in a traffic crash. Seat belts are not only known for holding you in place during a collision, but more importantly the are known to save the lives of the occupants in the vehicle.
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