Seat Belt Laws
Seat Belt Laws While reading this paper it is important that you learn about seat belts and the new seat belt laws that plague our country today. It is crucial that you see why seat belt laws need abolished for adults. George Cayley first invented the seat belt in 1840. The first American patent was given in 1885 to Edward J. Claghorn. Nils Bohlin of Sweden created our modern day three-point seat belts in 1959. The standard issue for automobiles in 1964 had front seat belts only. In 1968, the standard automobile had both front and back seat belts (Mary Bellis). Seat belt laws are laws that enforce or require the wearing of a seat belt while in a motor vehicle. On July 1, 2007, Indiana lawmakers changed the seat belt law to where every person in a car, truck, or SUV needs to be strapped down in their own vehicle. Forty-nine states have seat belt laws for adults and in many of those states, the police are allowed to pull over motorist whose only crime is not wearing a seat belt. The only state without a seat belt law for adults is New Hampshire, which is called the live free or die state. New Hampshire does require children up to the age of eighteen to wear seat belts, but not adults. The state stood to get a 3.7 million dollar federal highway grant if the law for adult seat belts would have passed. The Republican Senator for the state Bob Clegg said, “I happen to be proud of the fact that here in New Hampshire, we make our own decisions. If you want to wear a seat belt, you are free to do so. If you want to risk your life by not wearing one, it is not the government’s responsibility to force you to.” Democratic Senator Lou D’Allesandro agrees with Bob Clegg. D’Allesandro said, “Citizens, not government, should not make the choice whether to buckle up” (Norma Love). “Click It or Ticket is a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration mobilization
Cited: Wikipedia, Click it or Tick it, October 29, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_it_or_ticket