What I eat, what kind of health care I have, what safety devices I must have on my car, whether I have a fire alarm and/or a CO2 detector in my house, how high I can build a fence in my back yard, where and if I can smoke, manditory trash bags in my car, etc., etc., etc.,etc.

Leave me alone.

And how much would this new, required piece of “safety equipment” add to the cost of a new car (which most Americans already can’t afford.)

I’m one of those ‘if you’re not passing, get out of the left lane’ types. I feel it’s common courtesy. people tying up the left lane, compelling other drivers to pass on the right, are creating a real hazard.

Talk about creating a target rich environment!

I wonder when the hamburger & fries will be banned?

Take the speed limit for example. An interstate highway that I drive on daily has a speed limit of 65 MPH. Nobody should be going faster than 65, yet if I am driving in the left lane at 65 MPH, I’m yelled at, have horns honking at me and I am probably getting flipped off as people move to the right lane to pass me. Pennsylvania has passed a law that prohibits me from driving in the left lane for more that two miles, even if I am driving at the speed limit. They actually passed a law to make it easier for people to break another law.

Here’s a couple problems with it: I’m driving down the interstate doing 55 mph. I’m passed by a minivan. Through the windows, I see a kid matching the description of an Amber alert. I wish to call the authorities while keeping the van in view. Oppps… my car shuts down. Now the van got away, and I was just killed when someone rear-ended my car, and I had forgotten to wear my 5point seatbelt and neck restraint.

Second problem: Who’s going to pay for all this tech connection of phone to the engine? More stimulus money, or is it added onto the price of the car? What about the 30 trillion cars already out there?

Third problem: When it screws up – and it will – do I get to sue Ray LaHood? Or will it just be another round of “Congress feigns Horror” as they’re doing with Toyota?

That may not be possible without a broadband jammer, but maybe we could probably do some kind of app that shuts down the engine when the driver uses his phone. I can’t think of any problems with that idea…

Installing one in minivans and SUVs would solve the reckless driving issue on many levels.

not at all. I’m stating that there’s so much propaganda, the bullshit govt stats are taken as fact. I do believe seatbelts reduce some traumatic injuries/fatalities. I wear a seatbelt MOST of the time. However, there are numerous factors- airbags, better brakes, cars that crumple around passenger compartments, etc that factor into safety. Seat belt nannies will cite ‘the fact’ that 95% of all car seats are incorrectly installed and that children are at risk because of this. Do you really believe that a car seat with 2″ play in the seatbelt is more dangerous than a car seat with the recommended 1″?

We can examine these issues by comparing a state that doesn’t have seat belt laws (New Hampshire) and to comparable states that do. I believe that seat belts are worthwhile, but I don’t believe that not wearing them is the scourge to public health that nannies proclaim. I believe that seat belt laws are more about generating revenue than increasing safety.

MADD will swear that raising the drinking age to 21 reduces highway fatalities. The US has some of the strictest drinking laws in the free world. They don’t work. The govt and MADD have repeatedly been exposed fudging data.

We’re creating laws based on anectodal evidence. Now there are federal grants available for police departments to enforce seat belt laws, underage drinking, etc. They haven’t made us safer. They have generated a bunch of revenue for the govt.

These laws are designed to protect us from ourselves. Should we really be prosecuting people when they’re not harming anyone else?

In other news, smoking causes cancer, but that’s just anecdotal…