Seat Belt Laws

Courtesy of PoliceOne.com:
http://www.policeone.com/vehicle-incidents/articles/3296006-Doctors-and-cops-Dont-loosen-Maines-seat-belt-law/

Maine wants to make seatbelt violations "secondary," rather than "primary."  In effect, cops couldn't pull over a violator for that alone; a ticket could only be issued in addition to another (primary) violation.

Here's a thought.  Let's abolish ALL seatbelt laws, but with a catch.  Treatment of injuries caused by not wearing seatbelts, should be considered elective, because in essence, it is.  Let the insurance companies and Medicaid DENY coverage, and allow the hospitals to limit "free" treatment.   This could also apply to motorcycle helmets.  Injuries caused by reckless stupidity are NOT accidental.  Sensible people shouldn't have to pay for fixing stupid people's mistakes.  I wonder how much cheaper health care would be if the industry weren't absorbing the cost of blatant idiocy.  I'm all for helping under- and uninsured people get necessary healthcare, but treatment for these injuries should not be considered necessary, because the injuries aren't necessary.  If you want a new nose, you open your checkbook and pay for the results.  If you want to risk life and limb, you should be prepared to pay for those results as well.

 So says a smoker who expects her premiums to go up any day now.

On a personal note, I just spent an hour on the phone with PFC.  He can't leave base today, or he wouldn't be back in time for firewatch.  He's enjoying combat training, and paying attention, as his chances of encountering combat are pretty high.  And of course he likes having quite a bit more freedom than he had in basic.  He's been watching winter on the news.  He's sure not complaining about the mild weather in CA, but he's ever-so-slightly bummed that he's missing the longest, whitest Hooterville winter in recent memory.  At least he got some snowboarding in  while on leave.