Seat belts should be personal choice
I was disappointed to see the Legislature found it necessary to mandate more seat belt use. They can’t succeed at their business like fixing our schools or our roads, so they decide to mind my business by deciding what behavior is too foolish or too risky. I spent many a cross country trip stretched out asleep across the back seat. I also have ridden in the back of a pick-up, (including on the tailgate with feet dangling, although in those cases only on farm lanes and in pastures). My kids have too. I don’t really think it’s a rite of passage or family tradition, or that big a deal, but I was hoping my grandkids would grow up in a country that was free enough that it would be their choice. The concept of liberty is a big deal, and it worries me that our representatives seem to think they are our parents. “Do it because we say so.”
By the way, will the law apply to government vehicles — police cars, fire trucks, sanitation vehicles, school buses?
Bob Altman
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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