Why is it the law to wear a seatbelt?

Unless flying straight through the windshield like a small cylinder ripping through Gladwrap sounds like a good idea…

It took me awhile to find a good simile, and even that one sucks

I’m guessing there are hidden costs we don’t think about, like the cost of ambulances, fire trucks, and police people and whatnot. Not to mention, those kinds of agencies have to respond, so there’s a time cost, too.

@MissAnthrope
But these are all usually charged to the victim, or his/her insurance, are they not?

I was pondering that, myself. Knock on wood, I honestly don’t know how it works. But think about it this way, if the police/fire/ambulance people have to spend a couple hours scraping someone off the road vs. at least half that time if there are minor to no injuries.. that is a time cost. So you could look at it as less fire/police/ambulances available to the general public.

The social costs of the excess deaths exceed the social costs of enforcing a seat belt law.

@MissAnthrope
But time is money, and I don’t mean that is the cliche. The amount of people hired fit the demand for people.

@pdworkin
How many lives do you think are saved by making this a law? People either buckle up because they care about their life, or don’t because they think its a waste of time. I don’t think anyone buckles up simply because its a law.

@jackm Here in the UK healthcare is free in answer to your question responding to @MissAnthrope so that maybe why there is a law about wearing seatbelts here.

@jackm – I agree time is money. However, people hired =/= demand in all cases. I recall hearing at various times that certain cities’ agencies are understaffed, in need of budget increases for more people, etc. Even though fire and police are governmental/state agencies, that doesn’t guarantee they have enough funding to meet all their needs.

Then, you have people whose injuries might have been much less severe taking up time and space in hospitals. I imagine legislators view all this as unnecessary expenditures of space, time, energy, whatnot, that can be prevented by something simple such as wearing a seat belt.

Not only the cost! Think of the people that see you after you’ve flown through the windscreen and the psychological scarring on them because of your selfish act of not belting up! CLUNK CLICK EVERY TRIP!

From the NHTSA.

If you are driving, being seatbelted in allows you to keep in position to control your vehicle. That saves others lives.
It’s a just a good idea. Belt in, and be grateful if you don’t have an accident.

Money. It does cost society when your injuries cost a bunch of money. Even if you have insurance, insurance premiums go up on all of us if the insurance company has to pay out a lot. If you don’t have private insurance you are using tax money or we, who are covered by insurance or pay out of pocket for health care, pay higher fees at the hospital to compensate for the fact that you can’t pay.

@filmfann makes a good point that when belted in general you have better body position and control of your car, especially in times of extreme driving conditions.

It helps weed out the people who are too dumb to exist. If you can’t figure out why a seatbelt is a good idea, I suggest you hop on your local highway and gun it.

@eponymoushipster Now you sound like Charles Darwin.

@JLeslie nah. but if you’re seriously going to ask this, you deserve a windshield hat.

This question has already been asked a couple of times [1] [2]

@eponymoushipster
Wouldn’t this do the opposite, by keeping those “dumb” people alive?

@jackm if they refuse to wear it, they won’t.

even though you weren’t looking for this answer it really comes down to “It makes you safe”, and is proven to save lives.

Why it’s a law? I suppose you could compare it to why drugs are illegal, drugs kill people and ruin lives, just like not wearing a seat belt can kill you or ruin your life.

I really don’t think it comes down to a budget or saving money or time either, I really just think it’s there to benefit everyone. Making it a law just reinforces us to continue to wear it…and if you don’t you’ll get to pay a ticket, or someday kill yourself.

Fine, I’ll throw this in too.

It’s based on economy. People cost money to save. Less so with a seat belt. People don’t plan to crash with their car when they drive off; feeling it’s redundant. Frankly, many will disregard using seat belts if there is no law to use it.

It hurts getting fined for it though. I know. It cost me $213.

Why pick seat belt laws as an example of the diminution of personal freedom? How about gays getting married? Why would we have a law against that? Or recreational drug use? At least seat belts are ameliorative.

To protect people that are too stupid to realize seatbelts are a good thing.

It may also protect the innocent motorist who has a quickly moving human projectile coming at them through their windshield.

when someone is in a coma for months and their hospital costs are in the 100’s of 1000’s of dollars, that cost is spread to all (that’s why insurance is so high – if you never have an accident you are lucky but will pay for insurance just in case you need that big medical bill paid). when someone needs months or years of physical therapy, occupational therapy, etc., the cost is not borne by just the individual who did not wear the seatbelt, it’s everyone’s burden. so, no thank you, if your medical costs will cost me less, then i think you should be made to wear your seatbelt.

as someone who was in an accident and not wearing one, about 10 years ago, i learned my lesson, and advise everyone to wear theirs, even for a short hop to the local store.