[Vision2020] Question for the Vision

Mon Nov 20 14:32:07 PST 2006

While the money issue has been brought up repeatedly over the years, I ask
this: Why have we not seen a reduction in insurance rates, police manpower
costs and court costs despite higher auto safety regulations, higher
seatbelt usage, stronger enforcement and lower fatality rates?
Because it is a pipe dream, none of the "savings" will ever end up back in
Joe Blow's pocketbook.
Secondly, I ask this: How do we keep officers from making "bogus" stops for
non-compliance? Scenario: An officer sees something he/she doesn't like, but
wants to stop the vehicle. The easy way? Claim he/she didn't see a seatbelt
in use. It lowers the bar for probable cause.
This isn't saying that cops would do it, but it does open the door to abuse.
I bring this up because I was stopped a while back. I had to unbuckle my
seatbelt to get my wallet and the officer said I wasn't wearing my belt. To
say the least, I was furious over that allegation and made it clearly known.
I wasn't issued a ticket. So what happens to someone that is more easily
intimidadted than I? They get a citation and if they fight it, they will
probably lose because judges tend to side with police in a "He said, she
said" situation with no other witnesses.
This isn't brought up to paint police as being bullies or corrupt or
anything I know that 99.9 percent aren't, it just raises questions in my
mind.

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Jennifer McFarland
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 2:03 PM
To: 'Vision 2020'
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Question for the Vision

Good points, indeed, but I would argue that the unbelted are indeed putting
me at risk, at least financially.  I pay taxes and I'd rather my tax money
go toward more productive things than paying for the aftermath of fatality
collisions (officer overtime, court costs, insurance increases, etc.).  In
effect, Idahoans collectively paying $575 million a year for people who
don't think they should have to wear seatbelts.  I doubt we pay a similar
amount to cover costs associated with bungee jumping accidents.

Det. Jennifer L. McFarland
Latah County Sheriff's Office
Public Information Officer
PO Box 8068
Moscow, Idaho 83843
(208) 882-2216
Fax (208) 883-2281
http://www.latah.id.us/Dept/Sheriff_Main.htm

Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to affairs.
***Ralph Waldo Emerson

-----Original Message-----
From: lfalen [mailto:lfalen at turbonet.com]
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 13:50
To: Kai Eiselein, editor; Jennifer McFarland; 'Vision 2020'
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Question for the Vision

Very well said Kai. It is stupid and self destructive, but should be up to
them, so long as it does not put some one else at risk. The same goes for
helmets and life preserver.  I think Bungi jumping is also stupid and
dangerous. Should it be outlawed?

Roger
-----Original message-----
From: "Kai Eiselein, editor" editor at lataheagle.com
Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2006 13:17:04 -0800
To: "Jennifer McFarland" jmcfarland at latah.id.us, "'Vision 2020'"
vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Question for the Vision

> I believe that all persons under the age of 18 should be belted, and
> officers should be able to pull over a vehicle if they see an unbelted
> minor.
> Adults, however, should make their own choices.
> I say this in light of the fact that I ALWAYS wear a seatbelt and twice
have
> walked away relatively uninjured because of them, including an end over
end
> rollover.
> I've also been injured by a seatbelt; compression fractures in my back.
But
> that was an oddball accident and if I hadn't been wearing a seatbelt, the
> doctors said I would have probably broken my neck.
> What is needed is better education as to WHY people need to use seatbelts
> and use actual, close up, gory photos of those that didn't. I've crawled
> into a car after a guy hit a telephone pole at 30 mph with no belt and it
is
> not a pretty sight. Maybe if people see the real, unsanitized results,
their
> seatbelt usage would change.
> I think our police have better things to do than play parent to adult
> drivers.
> It also seems a bit goofy to me to toughen seatbelt laws on adults, while
> having no helmet law for them.
> Just my two cents worth.
>   -----Original Message-----
>   From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
> [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On Behalf Of Jennifer McFarland
>   Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 12:16 PM
>   To: 'Vision 2020'
>   Subject: [Vision2020] Question for the Vision
>
>
>
>   Dear Visionaries,
>
>   I hope you are all doing well as we enter the holiday season.  I issued
a
> press release a little over a week ago alerting the public of our "Click
It
> Don't Risk It!" seat belt compliance campaign.  I'm happy to say that of
the
> 15 cars I pulled over yesterday, only one person was not in compliance
with
> Idaho's seat belt laws.  However, I was just visited by a friend form the
> Lewiston Police Department (our partner in this year's campaign), and he
and
> I talked about our laws relative to Washington's laws.  In Idaho, an
officer
> must pull a car over for a "greater" offense (speeding, having a
> registration sticker in the wrong place, not having a front plate, etc.)
in
> order to enforce the seat belt laws.  In other words, I cannot pull over a
> car just because I see a small child standing up in the back seat-I'd have
> to have other probable cause to pull over said vehicle.  The Lewiston
> officer I've been working with has spent a lot of time trying to change
> Idaho's laws regarding seat belt use to: 1. make it a primary offense, and
> 2. raise the fines so they are commensurate with other states' fines for
the
> same.  I've heard arguments supporting both sides to this, but I am
curious
> as to what Latah County's citizens think about our seat belt laws-whether
> they are adequate as they are, if they should change, how they should
> change, etc.  My own views on seat belt usage have as much to do with how
I
> was raised as they do with a general aversion to the gruesome scenes I've
> experienced responding to collisions wherein the passenger(s) were not
> properly restrained (and having to notify next of kin).  But I also
realize
> that my experience is just that-mine.  What are your thoughts?
>
>   Thank you for your time,
>
>   ~Jennifer
>
>
>
>   Det. Jennifer L. McFarland
>   Latah County Sheriff's Office
>   Public Information Officer
>   PO Box 8068
>   Moscow, Idaho 83843
>   (208) 882-2216
>   Fax (208) 883-2281
>   http://www.latah.id.us/Dept/Sheriff_Main.htm
>
>   Truth is the summit of being; justice is the application of it to
affairs.
>   ***Ralph Waldo Emerson
>
>
>
>
>
>

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