Debate Stats:

Debate Score:174
Arguments:73
Total Votes:262
Ends:Never
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Yes - they save lives No - it's a personal choice

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HOORAY FOR SEATBELTS (0)

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Should the US have seatbelt laws?
So we need seatbelts, but not helmets?

Yes - they save lives
Side Score:
80
VS.
No - it's a personal choice
Side Score:
94
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– MyPic borme(502) Vote Up Vote Down
10
points 

I think that seat belts should be mandated by law, because we all (society) ends up bearing the brunt of the cost for people who fail to wear their seatbelts.

In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

It has been proven that seat belt laws increase the use of seat belts. Increasing the national seat belt use rate to 90 percent from the current 68 percent would prevent and estimated 5,536 fatalities, 132,670 injuries and save the nation $8.8 billion annually.

We all pay for those who do not wear seat belts. The higher health care and insurance costs that result from unbelted drivers and passengers involved in crashes get passed along to everyone.

For example, the costs of hospital care for an unbelted driver are 50 percent higher than those for a driver who was wearing a safety belt. Society bears 85 percent of those costs, not the individuals involved.

Thus, seat belt use should be mandatory.

Posted 115 days ago
– MyPic Mahollinder(93) Favored Vote Up Vote Down
3
points 

Seat belts serve a few purposes: to keep us fastened to our seats in a relatively comfortable position, to protect us during vehicle accidents, and to protect others during the same accidents. One of the primary functions of a government - as a part of the social contract - is to protect people from themselves. And this is why we have policies like helmet and seat belt laws (in America).

Posted 115 days ago
– MyPic robm05(11) Favored Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

I agree with what you're saying here, and a lot of what is being said here in favor of this. Seat belt laws do save lives because there is always that group of people who aren't intelligent enough to think wearing a seat belt could save their life and they won't do it. Be it personal reasons, the fact that wearing a seat belt is cool or whatever, some people need to be instructed in what they can and can't do. Not everyone in the world is a leader.

Posted 115 days ago
– MyPic Davey(6) Favored Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

I completely agree. Why should we pay for other people deciding to play roulette with their own lives by not wearing a seat belt. It's pretty stupid that by law children under a certain age must wear a seat belt and then not enforce that for an adult person.

Posted 113 days ago
– MyPic charlesviper(54) Favored Vote Up Vote Down
0
points 

Agreed. An individual's rights end where other's begin. You cannot take a "personal liberty" or make a "personal choice" if you are putting others at danger. While seatbelts don't save lives 100% of the time [a friend of my fell unconscious while driving and was thrown out the door, and his car then crashed through a drainage pipe and was instantly crushed, he would've been killed no doubt about it], it is a very rare occasion that they are counter-productive.

The crux of the argument is that by wearing a seatbelt, you are less likely to lose control of the vehicle, putting others at risk, and since US laws aren't meant to restrict the individual but to help the group, they are a necessity at either the state or federal level.

By adding a seatbelt law, you give people a heavy incentive to wear a seatbelt and protect themselves, but more importantly, others.

Posted 112 days ago
– MyPic tonicole(423) Favored Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

A seatbelt would have saved one of my cousins a couple years ago...

I agree completely.

Posted 36 days ago
– MyPic madgenius76(4) Opposed Vote Up Vote Down
-1
points 

Higher health care and insurance costs are due to the abundance of malpractice suits and insurance fraud cases brought forth by this "get rich quick," "sue happy" society. To say that society pays 85 percent of the medical care for unbelted drivers is ridiculous, because if that was really the case our insurance rates would be rising faster than gas prices. And considering there are approximately 304,106,367 people in the United States, the point of 5,536 estimated lives saved per year hardly seems like a reason to mandate a whole nation.

Posted 112 days ago
– MyPic joecavalry(1485) Vote Up Vote Down
3
points 

Yes, we need laws to protect everyone (or at least as many people as we can) from as many dangers as possible. We need to protect the human race at all cost. This can be facilitated getting people off the planet so that we don't have all of our eggs in one basket. And as we ship them up into space, we need to make sure that they are wearing their seat belts just in case they slam into a meteor heading towards Earth. That way they will survive and make it towards Mars to start anew. Since Mars is cold, they will have to start generating green house gasses to warm up the planet (but we're already pretty good at that). We need to spread humanity to the outer reaches of space and time. Since our television signals (especially today's news) would have preceded us, the universe will no doubt welcome us with open arms. It is our Manifest Destiny!

Posted 114 days ago
– MyPic Swimmer(17) Vote Up Vote Down
2
points 

does anyone realize how many lives have been, are, and will be saved by wearing a seatbelt. with the decisions that people make....drinking and driving.... it would be stupid not to wear them. our country is trying to keep us all safe by giving us these laws. its a personal choice to obey the law or not, so if its a law you can still choose whether you want to wear them or not.

Posted 115 days ago
– MyPic arguthis(1) Vote Up Vote Down
2
points 

The choice not to wear a seat belt does not only affect the life of the individual choosing not to wear one, but also the lives of others. Increased costs to society through subsidized health care and emotional burdens on the family members of those killed in car crashes outweighs the individual's right to choose whether or not to wear a seat belt. The consequences of an individual's choice are not confined only to that person, thus the requirement to wear a seat belt serves to protect other people from one person's error in judgment.

Posted 113 days ago
– MyPic lokita4lyfe(17) Vote Up Vote Down
2
points 

My sister was in a car accident a few months ago and died instantly... if she had been wearing a seatbelt she would still be alive and my nephew would still have a mother.

The seatbelt law is one law that should be enforced everywhere. How hard is it to put on a seatbelt? Just by doing that small thing you could save your life. No one ever plans on getting in a fatal accident but it happens. And when it does you're not only paying the price with your life, your relatives and friends also have to deal with the loss of someone they loved and cared about.

Posted 85 days ago
– MyPic Tamisan(422) Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

Seatbelts have reduced the number of vehicle-related deaths. The statistics speak for themselves.

Posted 114 days ago
– MyPic ryaske(2) Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

It could keep the driver in his/her seat when the driving gets very rough (like right before and during an accident). That fact means that the driver has more control over the car (because he remains in his seat). That could protect others on the road , or in the car , or anywhere else, from getting hurt.

IF IT ONLY AFFECTED THE DRIVER, i would say it doesnt matter. But belts could help the driver stay driving. So theyre required

Posted 113 days ago
– MyPic ryaske(2) Favored Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

hell yah brotha!!

Posted 73 days ago
– MyPic duncer(117) Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

seatbelts ARE in cars to save lifes

Posted 25 days ago
– MyPic KelsoH(21) Vote Up Vote Down
0
points 

Why would anyone be against wearing a seatbelt? Yes you can go on and on about the intellectual right to self determine if you are going to wear one, but in this instance, there is no reason at all for someone to NOT wear a seatbelt. It's a proven fact that they save lives and that they are not an inconvenience when driving. With that in mind, this law is not a violation of liberty, it simply makes sense in the same way that mandating car manufacturers to follow safety guidelines makes sense.

Posted 114 days ago
– MyPic PassingBy(29) Opposed Vote Up Vote Down
4
points 

It is a proven fact that smoking is harmful. But i am free to make a choice wether to smoke or not unless i am bothering others with my smoke.

It is a proven fact that drinking alcohol is harmful. But once again i am free to drink as much as i want unless i start acting criminally.

It is a proven fact that cliffhanging is dangerous. But noone starts a law against cliffhanging ye?

It is a proven fact that sportsmen get lots of injuries in tough tackles or doing hard tricks - are we going to deny that too??

Posted 114 days ago
– MyPic KelsoH(21) Opposed Vote Up Vote Down
1
point  

You get utility (enjoyment) from smoking. You get utility from drinking. You get utility from dangerous sports. Do you get utility from not wearing a seatbelt?

No you don't. That's why it is fundamentally different from those freedoms. By making those other activities illegal, there will be people who stand to lose a lot of happiness by not being able to enjoy those activities. In comparison, no one is truly bothered by wearing a seatbelt. If you are, then you are quite a unique individual.

Posted 114 days ago
– MyPic billyhudson(8) Vote Up Vote Down
0
points 

The government has a moral responsibility to protect its people. End of debate.

Posted 112 days ago