Budget Watch Nevada

A vote earlier this week in the NH legislature (Senate) to require seat belt use in automobiles died in committee. Hooray for New Hampshire! It’s nice to see a voice of reason from the state whose motto is “Live free or die.”

The Union Leader newspaper reported, “The bill, HB 802, passed the House last month by 13 votes. New Hampshire is the last state in the country without a mandatory seatbelt law, although restraints are required for children and teenagers.

Under the bill, a seatbelt law violation would be a primary offense, which allows a police officer to stop and ticket anyone for not wearing a seatbelt, or any driver who carried unbelted passengers.

The bill has pitted public safety advocates who argue seatbelts save lives against critics who deride it as an example of the ‘nanny state.’

Clegg said after the committee vote, ‘I don’t think we should ever fear punishment as a reason to do anything. Government shouldn’t be something everybody is afraid of. If seatbelts are a good idea, then we ought to educate people so they’ll use them.’”

Well said, gentlemen. If only we had such pro-liberty thinking in Carson City! Senator Dennis Nolan recently spent a lot of time and energy trying to pass a stupid bill making it a primary offense to not wear your seat belt in Nevada.

Is it a good idea to wear your safety belt? Probably. Do seat belts save lives? Probably. But if your tyrannical government made laws for everything that saves lives, then it would be illegal to drink alcohol, or eat deep-fried foods, or smoke cigarettes, or cross the street, or go hiking in the desert in summertime, or own a swimming pool, or … well, you get the picture. All sorts of behavior can lead to possible injury or death, but what business is that of the government?

What ever happened to personal responsibility? Let’s try that for a change.