Seatbelts Laws Are Beneficial- Disagree Essay Example for Free

Seatbelts Laws Are Beneficial- Disagree Essay The article that is being critique is called â€Å"Primary Seat belt Enforcement Laws Are Beneficial.† The author of this article is Kathyrn O’Leary Higgins. She explains on the reasoning behind why seatbelt laws are very beneficial to wear. Her main reasoning of this article is to explain and commend you for considering this measure that will so easily save many motor vehicle occupants from crash-related deaths and injuries. She strongly believes that people who do not wear there seatbelt are more likely to get in to car accidents. She did a great job putting this article together with all the good information and great points to each idea. The author Kathyrn does give good credibility throughout her article. Her vocabulary was good aimed toward college students. She did not however look in the direction on how seatbelt laws can be unbeneficial. Although her topic is very debatable many do not agree with the idea that seatbelt enforcement laws are beneficial. â€Å"Seatbelt laws may be the number one defense against motor vehicle injuries and fatalities†. The author also mentions that,† These drivers, who choose not to buckle up, tend to exhibit multiple high risk behaviors and are more frequently involved in crashes.† Yet, that idea can be very debatable. Many people would highly disagree, just because you aren’t wearing your seatbelt doesn’t many you are more likely to drive crazy. In addition, Many people believe that it should be your own decision if you want to wear a seatbelt or not. Yes there may be many cases where a seatbelt has saved individuals lives. But there are also many accidents where a seatbelt has killed a person’s life or seriously injured the individual. For an example on how a seatbelt killed an individual, there was one accident wear the car caught on fire and the individual could not get the seatbelt unattached which kept him trapped in the car and died from the fire. Also many people get injured from seatbelts. They get bad chest and shoulder injuries. There was one paper that mentioned on how the mother left her daughter in the car while she was having a conversation with a friend. She had a bad feeling and deceided to stop and check on her daughter. She knew something was not right when seen that her daughter wasn’t moving around. She opened the door to see her daughter with two seatbelts wrapped around her neck. She was strangling there and as they tried to un wrap the seatbelts they got tighter, until they finally got something to cut the seatbelts and get her loose. That’s another great example on how seatbelts aren’t always there for just safety. Some people even believe that they can drive faster if wearing their seatbelt, they believe if they crash they are safe due to the seatbelt, which is ridiculous. †If this just sounds absolutely absurd, ask yourself: would you drive with greater care if – one fine day- you woke and discovered that someone cut away your seatbelt? If the answer is yes, then it means you aren’t driving as safely as you can, right now with your seatbelt on† (Kumar, Navin. 1). Yes in many cases seatbelts reduce the amount of accidents that happen, and they decrease the number of deaths. But they cause people to drive faster and more recklessly, causing more accidents and increasing the number of people who die. Seatbelt laws are also hypocritical. The author mentions, â€Å"Although opponents to primary enforcement seat belt laws claim that nonuse is a personal choice and affects only the individual, the fact is that motor vehicle injuries and fatalities have a significant societal cost.† Why is it that a person in a vehicle has to wear a seatbelt yet a motorcyclist doesn’t have to wear a helmet? The beneficial law is a violation of a person’s freedom. Seatbelts are there if a person chooses to wear one, and those who want to can wear their seatbelt, but those who don’t want to shouldn’t be forced to wear one. If some people think others are risking their life because they aren’t wearing their seatbelt then that’s their opinion. Our belief is that it’s up to you to make your own decisions. The government shouldn’t be forcing anyone to do anything for their own good. In a free society, if someone is injured or killed because they freely choose to use or not use their seatbelt, that is a person’s tragedy, as it is with other freely chosen risks in life. It’s not at all reasonable. Citations Higgins, Kathyrn OLeary. Primary Seat Belt Enforcement Laws Are Beneficial. Cars in America. Ed. Andrea C. Nakaya. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints. Rpt. from Testimony of Honorable Kathryn OLeary Higgins, Board Member, National Transportation Safety Board. 2009. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. http://ic.galegroup.com.gary.libproxy.ivytech.edu.allstate.libproxy.ivytech.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=query=prodId=OVICwindowstate=normalcontentModules=mode=viewdisplayGroupName=Viewpointslimiter=currPage=disableHighlighting=truedisplayGroups=sortBy=source=search_within_results=action=ecatId=activityType=scanId=documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010429245 Kumar, Navin. â€Å"Can safety regulations kill you? How safe are seatbelts and seatbelt laws? Digital Bits Skeptic. Copyright. 2012. Web 4 Feb 2013. http://www.dbskeptic.com/2009/06/21/can-safety-regulations-kill-you-how-safe-are-seabelts-and-seatbelt-laws/ http://www.sallycphotography.com/archives/2005