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One question- do you think seatbelts, airbags, ABS etc primarily protect people from themselves, or from other people?
Solid-
Don't sharpshoot GH just to attempt to defend your statement about the safety laws. It just clouds a very good point made by Greenhat. He seems to have been focused on the legitimacy of the actual creation of the laws. It is the "legislators making laws to tell us how to live our lives because they think they are infallible know-it-alls” type argument. I have a problem with these laws as well.
Your prior points are expressed quite well. Don't undermine the legitimacy of them. You are a smart young man. You are just wrong this time.
Lawsuits and consumer demand for safety have driven all automakers to start including side air bags, etc. The government does not need to legislate their use. On that same note, I think an insurance agency can have a right to place into its written policies that non-belted drivers get no pain/suffering, etc if involved in an accident.