Seat belts and thankfulness for govt overreach - FB conversation

S.B. posted this: Say what you like about overreaching regulations, but I just drove past a family of 4 standing next to their wrecked car, who would have been dead had it nort been for airbags, seatbelts and crash resistant bumpers.

All innovations that the auto industry resisted btw.

J.S.: It's all there for a reason. 

M.G.: I am totally with you on this one!!

S.B.: Yeah but you're a nurse. You just don't wanna see all that blood! ;-)  

M.G.: Haha!! Blood is cool. I just don't think it is someone's "right" to go without a seatbelt or helmet and then get hurt, so we (taxpayers) can pay for their hospitalizations! It happens all the time! It seems the people that have no insurance are the same people that take extra chances....

Me: A) You couldn't possibly know that they would be dead absent govt regulations

B) you couldn't possibly know that they wouldn't have been wearing seatbelts otherwise.
C) Crash resistant bumpers are designed to prevent body damage in low speed impacts. They are therefore irrelevant to the situation you describe.
D) the federal government has no constitutional authority to force anyone to buy "safer" cars.
E) Apparently, government overreach is just fine and dandy, if only that some lives are saved. So, what amount of government overreach cannot be justified in the name of saving lives? Mandatory exercise? Banning fattening foods? National speed limit of 20 mph? Where is the line drawn in the name of saving lives?
E) I find it interesting that your first thought is to give thanks to government.

R.B.: You're right, he should have thanked the free market for making that car so affordable first.

 

Me: S.B.? Not likely.

R.L.: Honestly, crash resistant bumpers had nothing to do with saving their lives...it doesn't sound like it was a low speed impact. Airbags were invented by a car company, BTW (Mercedes)...actually, that same car company invented almost all modern safety features and continues to innovate even today, all without forced government regulation. Other than that, I agree air bags, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes and seat belts are all wonderful. Now riddle me this, why is it currently not legal to drive with an FIA certified crash cage that uses an X-brace across part of the door or a 5-point harness? They're okay when I'm racing, but not driving to work? More government stupidity...

 

D.H.: having had to sit on 395 for over an hour while 3 people were airlifted after a roll-over accident, I would agree with you. Dad and baby were belted in and suffered only minor injuries; mom and two kids were not wearing seatbelts - they were the ones airlifted. The mom died at the hospital.

 

S.C.: So sad for the children and Husband that lost the wife and mother, but how stupid not to wear your seat belt anymore or make sure your children are, especially with all the road rage these days you never know what is going to set someone off in this weird world these days. So many peeople out driving under the infulence, especially the meth heads, scary, way too scary.

A.K.: Some of us remember when the government was talking about requiring the installation of air bags in all cars. Conservatives opposed it in the name of freedom and because the free market didn't decree it. We were told it would make new cars too expensive. 

My wife and I had our lives saved nearly two years ago in a collision. I am not sorry that I lost my freedom to buy a car without air bags.

 

R.B.: Air bags? More like fascism-pillows used to smother the American people. Seat belts prevent us from pursuing the American dream through our windshields in the event of a crash.

 

A.Z.: I must say, you leftists draw some gerrymandered lines when it comes to the "its my body and I can do what I want" themes.

 

J.J.: libertarians like me have never advocated zero government. Government regulation is not the problem; excessive government regulation is the problem. This truth is not as photogenic as the cartoon crafted by the left, but it is the truth.

 

A.K.: There are many strains of Libertarianism that come very close to advocating zero government. I have read books on Libertarianism that advocate private police and private courts.

 

J.J.: It's okay to drink the cartoon KoolAid (tm) now and then. Where else would MSNBC get their commentators?

 

Me: Some of us here have difficulty in discerning the difference between a "good thing to do" vs. "a proper role of the government." The two are not the same. 

 

Me: There are many strains of totalitarianism. They only differ in the amount of power usurped from the people.