According to the Wausau Daily Herald (the closest thing we
have to a newspaper with due diligence in journalistic practices
and editorial methods), the new seatbelt law goes into effect
today. You can read the story here.
You can now be stopped and ticketed for not wearing a
seatbelt, or for allowing your passengers to forego seatbelts, or
for having that toddler of yours perched up on the console
between the bucket seats of your rumble-buggy pickup truck.
It used to be that you had to be stopped for some other
violation first, before the cops could give you a ticket for
seatbelt ignorance. Now a dangling belt buckle is cause
enough, all on its own.
Wisconsin seatbelt-wearing compliance is about 73%, a bit
below the national average of 85%. I would estimate, based on
direct observation, that compliance in Langlade county runs
about 48%. That means if our cops are on their toes, Antigo
can create a local economic recovery plan without state or
federal support! We’re gonna be rich!
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funny thing is, the State didn’t do it because they are worried about safety, they did it because they get a nice-sized grant for making it a primary enforcement issue. The $10 ticket is a waste of time and money; if they really cared about making people buckle up they’d make it at least $50. $10 wouldn’t make me put my belt on if I didn’t wear it.
The gutless ineptitude of our current state legislature is a legacy of the Tommy Thompson years. They rarely make the right decision, and when they do it’s for the wrong reasons. That’s Wisconsin politics for you….
Still no long lists of seat-belt violation fines in The Paper…. Or short lists…. Or, in fact, any mention of any tickets for any violations at all. Beltess guy in a pickup drove though town at 11:15am today with two beltless buys riding in the truck bed. Sure looked legally dubious to me. I guess the urge for enforcement hasn’t arrived in Antigo. Never any cops around when you need them… or even when you don’t! The Antigo Daily Journal keeps referencing this mysterious group of Langlade County “law enforcement officers” in there hard-hitting crime stories, but I never see any on the streets.
Yo Alby, read in your favorite publication that there were 21 traffic violations, most of them seatbelts…thought you would be pleased!
Well, ain’t THAT something! Otis, you’ve got company! I’d be much more pleased if tickets weren’t necessary because everyone was using seatbelts, to tell the truth. Maybe some publicity on the matter would bring that about. I’ll have to retrieve the ADJ from the bottom of the bird cage, and take a look.
Seatbelts-meatbelts. I for one refuse to wear and will continue to do so. My way of being an anarchist. Yeah, you get a fine, I’ve been given a couple of tickets and have left “the pullover” without bucklin up. What is next? Ice cleats mandatory during winter months? Ear muffs because hey maybe your ears might get frostbitten and it’ll cost the American Public tax dollars for artificial ears? Give me a break! You’re all SHEEPLE!
Velocipurple, what part of “It’s the law” do you not get? Seatbelts are mandatory because they save lives, prevent serious injury, and save millions of dollars in preventable medical expense. Even the usually knuckle-headed Wisconsin Legislature understands those points. That’s why we have the law. There is a wealth of scientific evidence supporting those points. What makes you deny reality in favor making bad decisions? How is stupidity enhancing your life?
Take note of the Albus Axiom: A person who does one a**hole thing will shortly do another.
By that truism, it’s safe to predict, with a fair degree of certainty, that since you refuse to wear a seatbelt for no good reason at all, you also smoke cigarettes, drive over the speed limit, drink and drive, and cling to a diet loaded with carcinogens and poly-saturated fats. You’re not an anarchist — you’re a sheeple of the most irrational sort.
Yeah, and I suppose when the gomment dictates you wear a helmet for your afternoon bike ride, you’ll happily trot down to WallyWorld and purchase yourself a nice bright metallic red one and don, for the sake of being compliant! I refuse to wear a seatbelt because as far as I’m concerned, it is my life and I’ll live it the way I want to live it.
By the way I am a vegetarian and former mountain bike racer, and, I repeat and, a veteran of the armed forces, both Air Force and the Army
These supposedly stupid decisions are mine to make, not a desk jockey or blow hard on the Hill!
I live in the United States and have certain inalienable rights. I suppose you want to abolish the Second Amendment as well, because guns kill people. OOFDA!!!
My definition of a sheeple ; one who follows blindly without asking questions because Uncle Sammy knows best and by gorsh I shur do love dat feller
Gee, how manly and forceful you are, Velocipurple. With your penchant for not following rules, laws, and orders, I am thankful that my four years in the US Army (enlisted, not drafted) were spent with comrades more dependable and responsible than you claim to be.
I assume that since you refuse to wear a seatbelt, you have advised your insurance company of your inalienable right to non-compliance with the law. After all, as long as you’re bragging about your assertion of idiocy, why would you leave them out of the loop? No sense putting a license plate on your pickup truck, either. That’s just another stupid “gummint” rule anyway, right? Might as well drive right through stop signs and red lights, too, since you don’t want anyone telling YOU what to do.
Note that the Albus Axiom still stands, shiny and untarnished by contradiction. You are welcome to continue providing evidence in support of my position.
Shees Albus, what is with the diatribe? You’ve hurt my feelings somtin terrible.
My point and stance has to do with Individualism and Patriotism, not bravado and machismo.
What is your position on older vehicles that were not equipped with seat belts? Oh, lets say a ’32 Packard Phaeton, alter it and install a four point harness, so as to avoid any booboos that “might” happen?
Might I digress? I suppose you were all for NAFTA. Because the Government decided it was a good thing! I was in college when NAFTA was “on the table” and protested vehemently. Alas, 20 years later, look where it took us. No amount of debate or argument changed my mind then, and I’ve stood behind my conviction.
The U.S. Constitution has been subjected to, white-out, erasures and sharpies, while “the People” stand idley by and clap for the sake of progression. I, for one, say phooey.
Pull your pants up, tuck your shirt in, look the “man” straight in the eye and say,”not this time mister”!
Strange as it may seem, I agree with you, at least on your last point, Velocipurple. The trashing the Constitution took during the Bush administration sometimes put me into a trembling rage. That eight years of “Individualism and Patriotism” will take about 24 years to repair, given the huge inertia injected into our political system by an unthinking populace.
By the way, don’t you find it a bit inconsistent to want to keep the Constitution (a set of rules) inviolate, but still insist on picking and choosing which other laws you will or will not obey? You seem to have some core values in conflict with each other. Do you pick and choose among basic principles to keep things convenient for your current desires, like you pick and choose which laws you feel like obeying on any particular day?
By and large I adhere to rules and regulations that are put into play for the well being of others, albeit, it is a personal affront when I’m told to abide because it is “good” for me. Says who? What happened to personal choice?
Out with the “Golden Years”? I do realize and understand about fiscal policies and the bottom line. I also realize and understand that insurance companies run the world and Capitolism seperates the classes and leads to class warfare, which by the way, is coming at us like a steam locomotive out of control.
Yes, you are correct. I do have values and morals, which I instill in my children. I also have raised them to question authority and that includes me. Questioning laws and admonishing authority is the reason WE are a nation and not Subjects of an overseas power.
I was beaten by six Minneapolis police officers in the early eighties because I “looked” like someone they were looking for, on my way home from work. I’ve been rebeling ever since and will continue to do so. I am fully aware this gives me no right to charachterize and judge others. But alas, it opened my eyes to the way things are really done and may per chance given me my jaded overall view of those in power.
Orwells Miniluv department was not too far off the mark, considering his synapses were conjuring thoughts more than sixty years ago. I don’t consider myself a student of Orwellian thought, however I do believe forward thinkers, not ThoughtPolice are needed to save these United States from ruination!
Legitimate concerns, Velocipurple. Still, it seems to me that using a seatbelt is a matter of common sense, and not using one is more a demonstration of a lack of common sense than it is a valid assertion of personal “freedom”. Of course, with proper acrobatic application of doublethink, you could have it both ways….
I make no apologies for being dissentient or leaning toward eclecticism.
Herb, Russ, Dave, Amy Sue and Julie would undoubtedly attest to the fact that I can be a real pain in the backside. Yet, I wholeheartedly feel they value my view points and my abstractness.
One last thing Albus. I am actively involved in my community as well as the world stage. World Watch Institute, Greenpeace, UNICEF and the like. I contibute monetarily, mentally and physically. Dare I say, I am not what I appear. Can’t judge a book by the cover and just because it is covered with dust, it doesn’t necessarily mean it hasn’t been read!
I rest………….
Herb, Russ, Dave, Amy Sue and Julie sound like people whose company I would enjoy, if only because they seem capable of accommodating people from the thin ends of the bell curve. You’re probably not all that bad, either, once we get past “local coloration” bluster. If you want to go REALLY global with your community efforts, you might consider something like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ido
Talk about eclecticism….
Kohl, Feingold, Obey, Vruwink and Lassa?
Oh. in case you’re wondering and I’m surprised you didn’t mention it! Myself and my children buckle down snuggly when they’re with me traversing the countryside in a motor vehicle.
They will have that choice when they are eighteen and responsible for their actions.
Albus, I’ve toyed with the thought of Universal cohesion and a collective One Way Road.
Until racial, religious, political and gender biases and prejudices are eradicated, Utopia or a facsimilie thereof will NOT be possible.
I’m afraid that my children will live to see a world, comprised of like minded groups vying for resources to survive. Unless, we as a group of Homo Sapiens, devise a methodology to accomodate the catasrophe we will meet when the Earth realizes its Carrying Capacity had been exceeded.
My greatest wish at present is that Copenhagen has housed people, who for the sake of humanity, will set a precedent for future generations.
We as people or beings, whichever you prefer to be thought of as, no longer live in microcultures. Every thing we do, no matter how miniscule, directly effects the environment around us.
As a designer of sustainable cities, I have conversed with leaders across our borders. We are not that different from other “peoples”, we all have the same fears, expectations, ideologies, morals I could go on and on. My point is, I can’t wrap my head around the fact that people can’t grasp that we are essentially all brothers and sisters and mitochondrial DNA will back that up.
We need to come together on a playing field, not for the sake of winning but for the sake of playing.
Growing up, as a species, is a rough row to hoe. There’s never going to be a top-down instant solution to our parochial belief-driven agendas. But a universal language seems like a worthwhile bottom-up baby step in the right direction. Pity the poor people who have been forced to attempt to learn English just to make a living! Many never quite “get it”, as we see repeatedly in the Antigo Daily Journal.
We’re a sad case, as a species. Next time around, I hope to be a dolphin. At least then, I’ll have a porpoise in life….