Buckled up

For Nanny Staters, the socialization of public services is the gift that keeps on giving: As politicians pile more financial obligations on taxpayers, more intrusions and restrictions on personal liberties can be justified as necessary to control those increasing "public" expenses.

The effort to toughen Nevada's seat belt law is a perfect example of this scheme.

All Nevada motorists are required to wear the restraints. However, not wearing a seat belt is a secondary offense -- police must cite drivers with another offense, such as speeding, to be able to write a ticket for a seat belt infraction.

Studies have shown the state has one of the country's highest seat belt use rates, at 92 percent. Statewide, vehicle fatalities are down. And motorists are protected from the potential police abuse invited by a primary enforcement law, which gives authorities the power to pull over motorists for any reason under the guise of a seat-belt compliance check.

But a small percentage of the driving public still decides to remain unbuckled. And, tragically, some of them pay for that decision with their lives or debilitating injuries when wearing a seat belt might have allowed them to walk away from a serious vehicle accident.

So a number of Nevada legislators support allowing primary enforcement of seat belt use. On Tuesday, the Senate passed legislation that allows police to stop motorists if they believe the driver is not wearing a seat belt. The vote was 12-9.

"You can have freedom of choice, but it shouldn't include having the taxpayers to pay for you for 40 years or until you die," said Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, chairman of the Energy, Infrastructure and Transportation Committee.

There you have it. The more you socialize the system, the more it gives rise to the argument that individual choices must be limited because they impose costs on society. This contention goes beyond seat belt compliance to alcohol and drug use, to bicycle riding and participation in sports from skateboarding to skiing, and especially to dietary and lifestyle choices that can lead to obesity.

Of course, all these meddlesome proposals ignore one fact: passing them into law doesn't guarantee compliance.

"DUIs and speeding are the top two causes for traffic fatalities," said Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, chairman of the Transportation Committee. "My point is, they are against the law and people are still breaking the law. If you can prove to me that a primary seat belt law will cause the 8 percent who don't wear seat belts to wear them, then I will vote for it."

No one can do that. A primary-enforcement law will not guarantee 100 percent seat belt use in Nevada, and it will not spare taxpayers from the bills Sen. Schneider loathes. Unbuckled drivers and passengers will still die in vehicle accidents -- just as many unfortunate buckled Nevadans will.

What passage of this bill would guarantee, however, is the potential abuse of the authority it gives to police.

"Ninety-nine percent of the cops are good cops," said Assemblyman Atkinson. "But if this bill allows one bad cop to give one person a hard time, then I don't want to support it."

Assemblyman Atkinson's principled opposition is encouraging. He should kill this bill.