>>>Seat belts are forced on people by the government. First they started with the driver, then both front seat passengers, now, in TN, everyone in the vehicle must wear them.
>>>
>>>Motorcycle riders must wear helmets in many states.
>>>
>>>Smokers are not allowed to smoke in their own homes in some states.
>>>
>>>In some states, only cops and criminals can carry guns.
>>>
>>>Those laws bother me more than the government monitoring phone calls and emails that involve people from other countries. It's a different day.
>>
>>Balderdash! The examples impinge only on your right to kill yourself, or have your back-seat kids kill you in an accident - and you a cop and all! OK, smoking in your own home, unless that's qualified to say "where kids are present", say, is a bit much
>
>The point was that we are slowly losing freedoms....

But you can very quickly lose a great deal more if you don't wear a seat belt. Besides, it's not just a case of eroding YOUR freedoms - how about the right to life of the innocent passengers in the car, esp. the kids, who haven't been educated as to the advantages of belts?

We've been sheepishly wearing them in the UK since - can't recall - at least early 70s - same for skid-lids. One of the advantages is the inertia reel - they hold you in the seat nice and snug, when driver side cornering (in your case - to the left), saving you having to resist the centrifugal force throwing you to the middle.

Also, remember, that the US reliance on air bags has also lead to the deaths of front-seat passenger kids - getting their necks snapped backward. If you told your kid to get in back would he accuse you of eroding his rights?