Re: National Seat Belt Week --long rant!

[Steve Meyer <quattroslm@yahoo.com>]

I have always thought that police were to "protect and
serve". Who am I going to hurt if I don't wear my
seatbelt, besides myself? Is there a big occurance of
bodies flying out of cars and injuring people or
damaging property because of the lack of a seat belt.
Laws should protect people from each other, not from
themselves, don't you think?

Anyway, I have always thought that if I had the money
and time, this would be a case to fight. I feel it is
my "right" to not wear a seatbelt, if I feel stupid
enough not to. 

Just one of those traffic laws that bothers me!

Steve
'87 4kq
'84 4kq
--- Steinbru@vnet.ibm.com wrote:
> I just got back from court --plead Not Guilty to
> violating NY
> seat belt law.  Oh yech!
> 
> As a "welcome back to f'in NY" --and I'm not even
> near NYC, the
> first day back to work after MH99, I was ticketed
> for not wearing
> a belt.  Well, I hope to tell you, the REO informed
> me that it
> was NSBW, and he had been instructed to write up as
> many as he
> could.  Maybe only in my mind, but I heard "welcome
> back to f'in
> NY."
> 
> How did he determine I was not belted?
> 
> By pacing me for several seconds and peering in the
> window --at
> 60mph in fairly heavy traffic.  Since I was not
> breaking any law,
> nor was my vehicle deficient in any way that I was
> aware of, when
> he veered close to me,
> I slowed down.
> He slowed down.
> I speeded up.
> He speeded up.
> 
> Finally I guess he thought he saw what he wanted to
> see, so he
> got behind me and pulled me over.  It's not my
> custom, but since
> I was driving the still crashed '88 5kcsq
> (obligatory Audi
> content) I got out and inspected my (working)
> flashers to see if
> he pulled me over for that.  Point is, at no time
> did he see me
> not wearing a seat belt.  He said "get back in the
> vehicle sir."
> I did and left the door open.  He asked if I knew
> why he pulled
> me over.  "No" I said, "everything seems to be in
> working order
> --even if somewhat (there's an understatement)
> bent."  He asked
> if I always wore my seat belt.  I answered "yes, in
> fact I was
> recently saved by this very one."  He then proceeded
> to tell me
> it was National Seat Belt Week and he was pulling
> over as many as
> he could.  I said (maybe a little sarcastically) "Oh
> great," but
> he continued that he saw that I was not wearing my
> safety belt,
> and could he see my license and registration please.
>  I got my
> papers out.
> 
> I suppose I should have just said "I had my belt
> on," but instead
> I told him that "just because you couldn't see it is
> no reason to
> give me a ticket."  The post-vacation optimist in me
> still
> expected some kind of stupid warning.  But no, it's
> a real
> ticket.
> 
> I have been told they are up to $75 these days --I
> don't know if
> that's before or after the obligatory "welcome to
> f'in NY" $30
> state surcharge (the previous governor alternated
> between raising
> taxes and raising fees --while proclaiming in
> alternate
> campaigns "no tax increase" or "no new fees").  We
> now pay
> two year registrations, and after thirteen months
> you can't get
> anything back if you cancel your plates.  And you
> still have to
> pay $5 to turn them in I think.
> 
> So now that my rant has subsided --for the moment,
> do any of you
> have any advice, good council, or sympathetic
> stories?  I'm
> committed to take this to trial or get it dismissed
> out of hand.
> It would gall me to pay any fine, and it would
> really suck to get
> stuck with the stupid surcharge on a rip like this.
> I also hate thinking about spending more hours
> sitting in traffic court watching the endless
> throngs of section 1180 contributors to the
> local coffers.
> --Gary
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, and did any of you happen to clip the newspaper
> article back
> when they passed the law, wherein some official was
> quoted as
> saying "don't worry, there's no intent to stop
> people solely for
> not wearing a seat belt --it's just to encourage
> folks to do the
> right thing for their own good...?"  Oh retch, just
> another
> Revenue Enhancement Opportunity!
> 

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