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Mandatory Seat Belt Laws
Dept. of Geography
University College London
26 Bedford Way
London, WC1H GAP
United Kingdom
Books: "Risk and Freedom" (1985—out of print—check college libraries)
"Risk" (1991----can order through Amazon.com -then search "Adams, Risk"
Society of Automotive Engineers (United States)
"Efficacy of seat belt legislation" publication No. 820819; 1982
CATO Institute (United States)
"Cars, Cholera, and Cows" (Policy Analysis No. 335; March 4, 1999) Can be downloaded:
Ames Ph.D., Bruce N. University of California, Berkeley, CA; While not dealing with seat belt laws, the following articles expose misinformation about many popular subjects that supposedly threaten our daily lives. It is the same with seat belt laws. Such laws are defended by the federal government by creating fear of life and death situations while driving, including exaggerating the highway fatalities as a national health crisis that only government can cure through forcing people to use a governmen chosen seat belt, a device that actually also carries its own degree of danger to life and limb in certain kinds of traffic accidents, besides the more important question of its constitutionality.
Smithsonian Magazine
"Risk: Where do real dangers lie?" 11-1995
"How the body defends itself from the risky business of living" 12-95
National Center for Policy Analysis (Texas); NCPA Policy Report No. 214
"Misconceptions about environmental pollution, pesticides and the causes of cancer" 3-98
Toxicology Letters, (Plenary Lecture: Intl. Cong. Tox., Paris
"Cancer prevention and aging delay by micro
Berens, Michael J. The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), November 17, 1996
"Wheels of Justice" A series of articles including how the State of Ohio is fleecing its motorists for all kinds "crimes" even many people didn’t know they committed.
Chapman, Stephen; Chicago Tribune Columnists,
"Fostering a nation of children"1-27-85 [1.56]
"The seat belt law and privacy" 4-3-85 [1.62]
Dunn, Jr., James A.
Brookings Institute (Washington, D.C.)
"Driving Forces—The automobile, its enemies, and the politics of mobility" 1998
Evans, Dr., Leonard (While Dr. Evans, who was a Principal Research Scientists at General Motors, vigorously supports seat belt laws, he has in recent years turned his attention to bitter opposition to mandatory installation of air bags. On that issue it is interesting how he discredits the government’s statistics in support and defense of air bag installation. He, of course, never uttered a negative word of protest against all the statistical information created by the same government in support and defense of seat belt laws. One wonders why Evans claims the government can be so accurate and scientifically sound in support and defense of seat belt laws and so wrong about the support and defense of air bags?
Detroit Free Press, June 16, 1997
"Air Bag—Even the smartest technology is a dumb, dangerous mandate"
Driving magazine, Nov. 11, 1997
"Air bags have been oversold"
The Washington Times, June 8, 1987
"Offering motorists the air bag option"
Filley, Dwight, Senior Fellow in Market Principles, The Independence Institute (Colorado), Issue Paper No. 1-99; January 20, 1999
"Risk Homeostasis and the futility of protecting people from themselves"
Garbacz, Christopher, Ph.D.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Op-Ed; Oct. 30, 1990
"Seat belts don’t necessarily save lives"
Population Research and Policy Review
"Do front seat belt laws put rear seat passengers at risk?" 11-92
Applied Economics
"How effective is automobile safety regulations?" 22, 12, Dec. ‘90
"More evidence of the effectiveness of seat belt laws" 24, 1992
Arkansas Gazette, Op-Ed; 5-13-91
"Seat belt laws pose risks of their own"
Economy Inquiry; 29,2.April 1991
"Impact of the New Zealand seat belt law"
Economics Letters; 19, 1985
"A note on Peltzman’s theory of offsetting consumer behavior"
Gorman, Dr. Linda
Independence Institute (Colorado)Under "Issue Background, No. 99-1. Feb. 10 1999
"Mandatory seat belt laws cause dangerous driving, and invade privacy"
Halter, Mark,
Wisconsin Medical Journal, Letter to editor
"Do seat belts save lives?" 1995:94 (3) [1.212]
"Buckling up: Whose choice should it be?" 2001:100(2) [1.212.1]
National Motorists Association—NMA NEWS
"Belting America" Sept/Oct 1991 [1.246]
Hentoff, Nat, Columnist
Daily Southtown (Chicago)—(Newspaper Enterprise Association)
"The biggest loser in elections" 11-1-92
Washington Port
"The big apple’s rotten policing", 9-4-99
Kazman, Sam; Competitive Enterprise Institute; The CATO Review of Business and Government; Fall 1991
"Death by regulation" (On how federal fuel economy standards are killing people) [1.225]
Knox, Bob (Columnist, Sun-Sentinel newspaper, Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
Readers Digest
"Family Alert: How safe is you car?" 6-97
Krajick, Kevin, Psychology Today
"Do seat belts kill?" 5-86 [10.285]
Larder, D. R.,
Accident Research Unit
The University of Birmingham
United Kingdom
"Neck injuries to car occupants using seat belts" (1985) [10.42+]
Levine, Elliott, Prof. University of Winnipeg, Canada
Mature Medicine (Toronto, Canada)
"Determinants of driver fatality risk in front impact fixed object collisions"
Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg, Canada)
"Seat belts kill!" January 21, 1992 (Defense of his earlier research on some of the dangers of seat belt use)
Nelson, Robert H., Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland; senior fellow of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Forbes magazine, 2-10-97, pp72
"The new prohibitionists" [10.205}
Nettler, Ph.D., Gwynne (Prof. emeritus, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. Now lives in San Diego, CA)
Liberty magazine; May 1994
"Trafficking in Numbers"
Pappalardo, Kathleen M. (Former Regional Director, Highway Federation and former Project Coordinator, New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency) Her testimony before NH state legislature against passage of a seat belt law in 1985 [4.42] published by
the Libertarian Party of San Bernardino County, CA
Peltzman, Sam (Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago)
Journal of Political Economy
"The effects of automobile safety regulation" (vol. 83, No. 42, 1975)
Robertson, Leon S., Ph.D.
Nanlee Research and Yale University
"Highway Deaths: False PR on the Effects of PR" (South Carolina’s 1988 false claim on highway death decline)
Ross, Philip
Forbes Magazine, 9-6-99, pp72-73 [10.307-8]
"Safety may be hazardous to your health"
Schonsheck, Jonathan (Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY)
Law and Philosophy Library (Kluwer Academic Publishers)
"On Criminalization — An essay in the philosophy of the criminal law" Vol. 19 1994 (opposes seat belt laws)
Semmens, John
HEARTLAND INSTITUTE, Chicago IL
"Hawaii’s ‘Successful’ Seat Belt Law" 10-11-91 (analysis disproves success)
"Auto safety regulations: Hazardous to your health?" -28-88)
"Coercion is no cure for collision" 1-26-87
Paper presented at the Transportation Research Forum’s 28th annual meeting, November 16-18 1987, San Antonio, Texas.
"What if everything we know about highway safety is wrong?" (1.78)
HUMAN EVENTS, 5-30-87 [1.99]
"More rules don’t always mean safer roads"
THE FREEMAN, 7-92 [1,124]
"Do seat belt laws work?"
Wildavsky, Ph.D., Aaron (deceased)
Institute of Government Research, College of Liberal Arts, University of Arizona
"No-risk is the highest risk of all" March 13, 1978
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OF SPECIAL NOTE:
Choice In Personal Safety (CIPS), which is an organization in England that is dedicated to opposition to the seat belt law in the United Kingdom, has additional information available for the asking. Contract: Gordon Read, Chairman, Fir Tree Cottage, Lower Chase Road, Waltham Chase, Southampton, SO32 2LH, United Kingdom. Or use:
http://useers.aol.com/forgood/seatbelt/ Of special note is a list of accidents involving injuries/deaths attributed to seat belt use.
Libertarian Party of San Bernardino County, CA has a web page with seat belt law opposition information
"Proof of Danger"
The title of a documented 30+ pages compiled by William J. Holdorf listing traffic accidents resulting in injuries and deaths of persons using a seat belt/air bag taken from newspaper articles, studies, research, and other sources of information. A copy given upon request for donation of copy/postage/packaging cost. This list is not compiled to discourage anyone from freely choosing to use a seat belt, but to substantiate there is a real risk involved in forced seat belt use by the brutal arm of law, as it has been equally proven by the risk involved with air bags. However, while the government has recorded air bag injuries/deaths, the government refuses to likewise fully inform the public of seat belt injuries/deaths.
The Independence Institute, 14142 Denver West Parkway, Suite 185, Golden, CO 80401
"HB 1131:Seat belt Law Endangers Innocent," by Linda Gorman
"Dangerous Changes in Seat Belt Law" by William J. Holdorf
Canadian Medical Association Journal, March 18, 1999
"Cost of seat-belt-related whiplash injuries rising"
"Neck Injuries Amongst Motor Vehicle Occupants Involved In a Collision" (April 1993)
Claire Laberge-Nadeau, MD, Msc, CSPQ
Labortory on Transportation Safety Centre for Research on Transportation Universite de Montreal
(Under a grant from AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety)
(One notable conclusion: "Seat belted car occupants tend to suffer a higher proportion of neck injuries than unbelted occupants because while seat belts tend to prevent more severe head injuries, the belts make acceleration/deceleration of car occupant heads worse because of the sudden change of vehicle velocity.")
"Chest and Abdominal Injuries Suffered by Restraint Occupants"
SAE Technical Paper Series #950657 Read at International Congress, Detroit, MI, March 2,1995 The Engineering Society,
400 Commonwealth Dr., Warrendale, PA 15096
"Injuries to seat belt users accelerate in Florida"
Tampa Tribune newspaper (Florida) 7-11-88 [10.58]
"Safety officials accused of hiding facts on children killed in cars"
The Des Moines Register (Iowa), 6-18-92 [10.175]
"The truth about car air bags" (U.S. ignored data showing risks to kids, women}
Investor’s Business Daily, 11-13-96 [10.306]
Search the Internet for: Medifus.com------Medifocus Guides-------(Medical information for legal professionals)
"Litigation: Seat belt Injuries Case"
Review the hundreds of court ordered settlements against the auto makers since the advent of seat belt laws in 1985 for causing or contributing, directly or indirectly, to injuries and deaths from seat belt use in traffic accidents resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars paid by the auto makers to the injured or family of the deceased. Such costs were, of course, passed on by the auto makers to the cost of new autos sold, thus adding to the high societal cost of state mandatory seat belt harness laws.
Information about seat belt system design defects, including buckles, can be found by searching the Internet under "seat belt buckle"or "seat belt injuries." or various lawyers offering their services for products liability cases. Also, back issues of Trial magazine, a magazine for trail lawyers, has details on products liability cases, which includes seat belt systems design defects.
JUDICIAL DECISIONS, RULINGS, COMMENTS
The U.S. Supreme Court stated unequivocally that every human being has a right to self-determination:
"No right is held more sacred, or is more carefully guarded by the common law, than the right of every individual to the possession and control of his own person, free from all restraint or interference of others, unless by clear and unquestionable authority of law." (Union Pacific Ry Co v. Botsford, 141 U.S., 250, 251 1891)
last modified:Sunday,March 29, 2009 at 03:18
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Robert Green Ingersoll
"Without Liberty, the brain is a dungeon."
Oliver W. Holmes
"The very aim and end of our institutions is just this: that we may think what we like and say what we think."
