Click It Or Ticket – 10th Birthday – Like It Or Not? [POLL]

Like it or not, Click It Or Ticket turns 10 this year.   The Washington State Mandantory Seat Belt Law.

When the mandantory law went into effect in June 2002, Washington state had an estimated seat belt use rate of about 82 percent.  Now, the rate is at just over 97 percent according to law enforcement and data from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.   Franklin County has the fourth highest seatbelt use rate in the state, just over 98% of drivers observed in the study used them.

  Now, it would be foolish to think people don't want to drive safely, be safe in an accident, and avoid injury or death.  But the elephant in the room is, and will always be,  does the government have the right to force you to take care of yourself?   It's a good idea to wear a seat belt.  But should government be able to make you do it?   Libertarians argue, no.   They point to the ever-increasing amount of government legislation that tries to "do the right thing" for the people; most recently, Obamacare. 

  According to the WTSC, over 1,000 lives have been saved due to increased seat belt use, or about 100 a year.  No data was available however, for the number of violations issued since the law went into effect.  Critics and cynics say it was just another law designed to get revenue from the public. 

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