I’m not a total bleeding-heart liberal, apparently. The news has been carrying a lot of stories about the push to require that seatbelts be worn, and I can’t help but hope that the bill goes nowhere.

I think it’s foolish and dangerous to not wear a seatbelt. It’s also foolish and dangerous to smoke, to eat too many trans fats, or to carry too much of a balance on your credit cards. I don’t think we need laws legislating that people shouldn’t do these things.

Kids should be required to wear seatbelts, and parents who don’t make them ought to be considered negligent. Kids can’t make an informed decision about whether a piece of cloth around their waist is worth not flying through the windshield. But that’s already the law.

The other 49 states require that seatbelts be worn, which is one of the reasons people are pushing for the law. But why do we want to be like the other states? Most of the other states have sales tax, too. Let’s not use “all the other states are doing it” as a reason to pass laws. Especially not when our motto is “Live Free or Die.” (Even if, “Live Free and Die” might be more fitting to the circumstances.)