[Vision2020] Question for the Vision

[Chris Storhok]

What I find interesting about this debate is the underlying question of
what level of nanny-government should we adopt (or be forced to live
with) to save a buck?

If one searches through all the "causes" out there that promote
government regulation in the name of saving someone a dollar (and
naturally lives = $$$$) you come up with a potential laundry list that
ultimately leads to a totalitarian society ruled by actuary tables.  

A small sample of the "cost" of human activity:
Smoking, $92 Billion US-wide (2005 CDC)
Drinking, $185 Billion US-wide (2000 National Institutes of Health)
Obesity, $35 Billion (US-wide (no pun intended) (2004 NIH)
"Illegal" drug use, $180 Billion US-wide (2002 - White House ONDCP)
  
As Kai just pointed out, we never see the saved $$$ anyway.
All we see is more and more regulation in the name of whatever cause is
in the spot light at the time.   

Heck, I always use my seat belt, not out of fear of the law or saving
someone a precious tax dollar but because I know the seat belt works.  I
wear a helmet on a snowmobile, motorcycle, and when I play hockey
because I know the helmet decreases the likelihood of serious injury in
case I screw up (or someone else does); but I really hate the idea of
government mandates.  

Death or serious injury due to life choices is a tragedy, but I fear an
oppressive nanny government far more than a thinner wallet due to
someone's lifestyle choice.   I, for one, feel that we as a nation have
pushed the envelope too far; if you don't want to wear a seat belt; that
is your choice, not the governments... 


(Damn Cold and Damn Dark in N.P. AK)
Chris  





-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com
[mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Jennifer McFarland
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 1:03 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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