Seat Belts and the Nanny State
Yesterday I delivered a speech on the floor of the House against the proposed mandatory seat belt law. Unfortunately, the House shamefully passed this blight on individual liberty by a margin of 153-140. The Union Leader covered the story. (They quoted me, as did the Concord Monitor.)
Here's the speech I gave on the floor (video linked above, I start at the 30 minute mark... some of the text below varies from the actual speech because I spoke, in part, extemporaneously):
This bill isn't about whether or not we should wear seat belts. Everyone knows we should wear seat belts. Of course, everyone should also brush their teeth, eat their vegetables, and exercise regularly. This bill is about whether or not the government should tell us to do something in our own interest and punish us if we don't.
Now, some will say that this is really about saving lives. If we want to save lives, one of the leading causes of death in this country is heart disease. The government could mandate all sorts of diets and exercise regimens for all citizens that very well might save lives and extend lives. It might even lower health insurance premiums, and even increase work productivity. The point is that all of those societal benefits would be more than offset by the resulting loss in freedom.
Some of those ideas may seem pretty silly, but a few years ago it would have been a punchline to a joke if I were to tell you that we'd be banning foods, but now, in some states that's the headline in the newspaper.
And it starts will bills like this. It starts with bills that treat adults like children. Right now, the law for children is that children have to buckle up and that makes perfect sense because children don't make decisions for themselves. Adults have input and it would amount to child neglect if they didn't make their kids wear seatbelts. But the law correctly allows adults to make decisions for themselves.
I think we're heading down that proverbial 'slippery slope' if we adopt this legislation. We are the last state that treats adults like adults and I hope you will all join me in continuing this New Hampshire tradition and vote down this bill.
**Another representative asked me a question on the floor as to whether we're responsible to children whose parents die in car crashes because we aren't mandating seat belts. My response was this:
I don't believe that's the case. If that's the case, then we're allowing children to become orphans because we haven't banned cigarettes and because we haven't mandated those diets I was talking about. We still have freedom. It's up to the adults to make those decisions. We don't need the paternalistic legislature coming in and telling adults what they can and cannot do.
Here's the speech I gave on the floor (video linked above, I start at the 30 minute mark... some of the text below varies from the actual speech because I spoke, in part, extemporaneously):
This bill isn't about whether or not we should wear seat belts. Everyone knows we should wear seat belts. Of course, everyone should also brush their teeth, eat their vegetables, and exercise regularly. This bill is about whether or not the government should tell us to do something in our own interest and punish us if we don't.
Now, some will say that this is really about saving lives. If we want to save lives, one of the leading causes of death in this country is heart disease. The government could mandate all sorts of diets and exercise regimens for all citizens that very well might save lives and extend lives. It might even lower health insurance premiums, and even increase work productivity. The point is that all of those societal benefits would be more than offset by the resulting loss in freedom.
Some of those ideas may seem pretty silly, but a few years ago it would have been a punchline to a joke if I were to tell you that we'd be banning foods, but now, in some states that's the headline in the newspaper.
And it starts will bills like this. It starts with bills that treat adults like children. Right now, the law for children is that children have to buckle up and that makes perfect sense because children don't make decisions for themselves. Adults have input and it would amount to child neglect if they didn't make their kids wear seatbelts. But the law correctly allows adults to make decisions for themselves.
I think we're heading down that proverbial 'slippery slope' if we adopt this legislation. We are the last state that treats adults like adults and I hope you will all join me in continuing this New Hampshire tradition and vote down this bill.
**Another representative asked me a question on the floor as to whether we're responsible to children whose parents die in car crashes because we aren't mandating seat belts. My response was this:
I don't believe that's the case. If that's the case, then we're allowing children to become orphans because we haven't banned cigarettes and because we haven't mandated those diets I was talking about. We still have freedom. It's up to the adults to make those decisions. We don't need the paternalistic legislature coming in and telling adults what they can and cannot do.