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Is seat-belt law about safety or ‘Benjamins’?

From the Bluegrass Institute

(Bowling Green, Kentucky) – The closer one listens to the chant for a stronger seat-belt law, the clearer it becomes: It’s not about safety. Rather, like Puff Daddy rants in his popular rap tune: “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby.”

The proposed law would require police to stop vehicles and ticket drivers for the crime of not wearing their seat belts. Currently, police can cite drivers for not buckling up only after stopping them for another violation, such as speeding.

Politicians are lining up behind the bill, claiming they support the policy because it will save lives. But policies don’t save lives, personal responsibility does; and this is something government can never legislate. So why are politicians so interested?

It appears the lure of a fresh batch of pork simmering in the skillet may be turning the heads of Frankfort legislators these days. If such a mandate is passed, Kentucky’s politicians stand to heap on an additional $11.2 million from the federal government to spend on pork-barrel highway projects.

For example, House Transportation Chairman Hubert Collins, D-Wittensville, has stubbornly opposed efforts to criminalize seat belt usage in past sessions. Now, he and others offer support for the current proposal, even though it’s nearly identical to previous offerings. We’re confused.

Could this federal bribe be softening up the conviction for defending liberty that some of our Kentucky politicians have stood by for years?

To provide cover for this intended violation of Kentuckians’ civil liberties (that’s what Rep. Jim Gooch, D-Providence called such restrictive seat-belt laws), Frankfort’s politicians can only resort to emotional appeals. While they say such a policy will save the lives of children and drivers, we know what it actually will do. It will divert the attention of law enforcement officers from bona fide public safety issues to ticketing honest, decent motorists for not wearing their seat belts.

“The people never granted government the right to corral their bad habits,” said Chris Derry, president of the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. “But they did insist that its elected officials swear to defend their right to liberty.”

Politicians in Frankfort claim that a restrictive seat-belt law is about safety. But once again…it’s really all about what they want in their wallets: Georges, Abes, Alexanders…and Benjamins.

The Bluegrass Institute is an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems.

Permission to reprint Perspective commentaries, in whole or in part, is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited. Authors are available for interviews by contacting the Institute.

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