Consensual Crimes

[EvilCrazyMonkey]

We don't need laws telling us to wear seatbelts; we need big, fat, colorful signs that tell us it's dangerous.
In the same way, marijuana doesn't need to be illegal; there needs to be something to spread the knowledge of what harm it can cause to a body.

 

[Dannichu]

Not wearing a seatbelt doesn't affect just you; you can easily kill the driver/passenger if you're sitting in the seat behind them if you're in the back seat and aren't wearing a seatbelt. Eevee mentioned last time that you can demind that everyone in the car wear a seatbelt, but that's easier said than done (children/shy people).

Also, paramedics shouldn't have to scrape mangled bodies into bodybags because the person in the car couldn't be bothered to buckle up. Surgeons shouldn't have to redesign someone's face because they didn't put on a seatbelt and smashed their face straight into the dashboard when they crashed.

And people who didn't take their health and safety seriously enough to wear a belt get the same treatment as people who did in hospitals; including limited resources like blood and organ transplants (plus people who don't wear seatbelts and die in car accidents are less likely to have donationable organs at the end than those who did, which is pretty selfish), and it's just easier all-round to make eveyone wear seatbelts so there aren't any ambiguities over whether someone should get a new heart even though don't care about themselves enough. :/

And my point about comparing seatbelt laws to those of speeding and handheld mobiles was because, after they were introduced, the number of people speeding and using handheld mobiles went down.
Presumably, after seatbelt laws were introduced, more people started wearing seatbelts. And I'm guessing (not a massive leap of logic, I must admit), that after this happened, fewer people died on roads. And I still fail to get how this is a bad thing. Seatbelt laws are justified because they save lives.

 

[Not Meowth]

Not wearing a seatbelt doesn't affect just you; you can easily kill the driver/passenger if you're sitting in the seat behind them if you're in the back seat and aren't wearing a seatbelt. Eevee mentioned last time that you can demind that everyone in the car wear a seatbelt, but that's easier said than done (children/shy people).

Also, paramedics shouldn't have to scrape mangled bodies into bodybags because the person in the car couldn't be bothered to buckle up. Surgeons shouldn't have to redesign someone's face because they didn't put on a seatbelt and smashed their face straight into the dashboard when they crashed.

And people who didn't take their health and safety seriously enough to wear a belt get the same treatment as people who did in hospitals; including limited resources like blood and organ transplants (plus people who don't wear seatbelts and die in car accidents are less likely to have donationable organs at the end than those who did, which is pretty selfish), and it's just easier all-round to make eveyone wear seatbelts so there aren't any ambiguities over whether someone should get a new heart even though don't care about themselves enough. :/

And my point about comparing seatbelt laws to those of speeding and handheld mobiles was because, after they were introduced, the number of people speeding and using handheld mobiles went down.
Presumably, after seatbelt laws were introduced, more people started wearing seatbelts. And I'm guessing (not a massive leap of logic, I must admit), that after this happened, fewer people died on roads. And I still fail to get how this is a bad thing. Seatbelt laws are justified because they save lives.

All good points.

I agree with EvilCrazyMonkey; people should have the consequences of these things given to them. If people see that not wearing a seatbelt leads to you being thrown through the windscreen and going splat on the toad, I would expect there to be fewer people not wearing seatbelts, being thrown through windscreens and going splat on roads.

 

[EvilCrazyMonkey]

Not wearing a seatbelt doesn't affect just you; you can easily kill the driver/passenger if you're sitting in the seat behind them if you're in the back seat and aren't wearing a seatbelt. Eevee mentioned last time that you can demind that everyone in the car wear a seatbelt, but that's easier said than done (children/shy people).

True. I don't disagree with this; I'm rather split on the issue.

Also, paramedics shouldn't have to scrape mangled bodies into bodybags because the person in the car couldn't be bothered to buckle up. Surgeons shouldn't have to redesign someone's face because they didn't put on a seatbelt and smashed their face straight into the dashboard when they crashed.

Isn't that their job they receive salary for?
I mean, it's not fair for waiters and waitresses to clean up the extreme messes their customers may leave – but hey! – that's their job. A bit of an understated analogy, but the point still stands.

And people who didn't take their health and safety seriously enough to wear a belt get the same treatment as people who did in hospitals; including limited resources like blood and organ transplants (plus people who don't wear seatbelts and die in car accidents are less likely to have donationable organs at the end than those who did, which is pretty selfish), and it's just easier all-round to make eveyone wear seatbelts so there aren't any ambiguities over whether someone should get a new heart even though don't care about themselves enough. :/

This I cannot rebut; it is true.

And my point about comparing seatbelt laws to those of speeding and handheld mobiles was because, after they were introduced, the number of people speeding and using handheld mobiles went down.
Presumably, after seatbelt laws were introduced, more people started wearing seatbelts. And I'm guessing (not a massive leap of logic, I must admit), that after this happened, fewer people died on roads. And I still fail to get how this is a bad thing. Seatbelt laws are justified because they save lives.

I am (technically) not against the law itself but against the extreme lack of propoganda. The law itself does not do much without a big sign saying that it's dangerous/the law/etc.

 

[Noctowl]

Imo, if its not harming anyone other than the person who is doing it (given that they realise the consequences), they should be allowed to do it.

 

[ultraviolet]

I think there's a case for arguing either way; criminalise them, and you risk an overcrowded prison system where many convicts haven't wronged anyone apart from themselves.

Uh, I don't know what it's like in the ol' US of A, but here if you repeatedly don't wear a seatbelt you lose your licence. :| Hardly crowding prisons.

 

[Not Meowth]

Uh, I don't know what it's like in the ol' US of A, but here if you repeatedly don't wear a seatbelt you lose your licence. :| Hardly crowding prisons.

Well, maybe that was too much of a generalisation ^^;; Not all crimes carry prison sentences, of course.

(I'm English btw, not American :3)

 

[Mirry]

I've seen some signs around here that say "Buckle up; it's the law". Personally I think saying something to the effect of "not buckling up is dangerous" would be more compelling than "it's the law" and that's it.

 

[Dewgong]

In the US, (in my state at least), it's $101 fine. :o

I think it should be $100, why an extra dollar?

 

[surskitty]

Not wearing a seatbelt doesn't affect just you; you can easily kill the driver/passenger if you're sitting in the seat behind them if you're in the back seat and aren't wearing a seatbelt. Eevee mentioned last time that you can demind that everyone in the car wear a seatbelt, but that's easier said than done (children/shy people).

Not really, no. You tell everyone in the car to wear a seatbelt and that should be it. o_O And it'd work better than insisting DO THIS BECAUSE THE LAW SAYS SO, given how many freaking stupid laws there are.

 

[Ruby]

A good principle is that self-composed people ought to be allowed to do anything that is none of anyone else's business.

Now, I don't know what the gist of this conversation about seatbelts is. surskitty, do you mean that you should have to wear a seatbelt unless everyone in the car says that you don't have to?

 

[surskitty]

I mean that it's silly for the law to enforce wearing a seatbelt when most people have the sense to wear one anyway and even if they didn't, if the driver was worried about people being injured by the lack of wearing a seatbelt, then the driver could enforce it anyway.

 

[Dannichu]

What if it's not the driver who's worried? It's one thing to make everyone in your car buckle up, but if a friend's giving you a ride or something, not everyone would feel comfortable demanding everyone else in the car wear one.

 

[Evolutionary]

I think people should wear seatbelts. It's only for safety and why not take a few seconds to buckle something up to not risk your life so much? It's like people can't be bothered to live or be safe. The law tries to make people do their seatbelts which can turn into a habit...good. And also realize importance of wearing a seatbelt. But then come the next generation...and so the law stays.

Oh and if anyone replys to me don't expect an answer, I go into the Debating Hall very rarely(I think...I use the Newest posts feature)

 

[surskitty]

That may be the case, but most people wear seatbelts anyway.


@EeveeSkitty: No one is saying "people should not wear seatbelts." Also, saying "I WILL PROBABLY NOT REPLY TO YOU" is ... kinda dumb.

 

[Valor]

What if it's not the driver who's worried? It's one thing to make everyone in your car buckle up, but if a friend's giving you a ride or something, not everyone would feel comfortable demanding everyone else in the car wear one.

Then why would you be in the car in the first place

If you're so worried about an accident, then, uh, don't get a ride from them? Hire a taxi? Take a bus? Walk? Y'know, exercise can be good every now and then.

No more What If situations, kthxbye.

 

[EvilCrazyMonkey]

I think people should wear seatbelts. It's only for safety and why not take a few seconds to buckle something up to not risk your life so much? It's like people can't be bothered to live or be safe. The law tries to make people do their seatbelts which can turn into a habit...good. And also realize importance of wearing a seatbelt. But then come the next generation...and so the law stays.

Oh and if anyone replys to me don't expect an answer, I go into the Debating Hall very rarely(I think...I use the Newest posts feature)

We are not against seatbelts; we do not find it necessary to have such a law.
As stated before, we don't need a law; we need big, fat, flashing propaganda.

 

[Mirry]

What if it's not the driver who's worried? It's one thing to make everyone in your car buckle up, but if a friend's giving you a ride or something, not everyone would feel comfortable demanding everyone else in the car wear one.

To be honest I think this situation is just as likely to occur whether or not there is a seatbelt law in place. If I were the passenger in this situation I would not feel any less uncomfortable telling the driver to buckle up because it's the law than to buckle up because it's dangerous not to wear a seatbelt.

 

[Ruby]

But when you die because he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, if there is a law, he can be held to account.

 

[Mirry]

I would imagine in most cases where YOU would die because HE didn't wear a seatbelt, you'd both be dead.