Letter: Freedom to not buckle up is the question

Friday, April 13, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun's April 7 story "Buckle up or get stopped and pay, governor agrees":

"To be or not to be, that is the question."

To be regulated by government that you will wear your seat belt or to have freedom to determine whether you want to wear your seat belt, that is the question. Gov. Jim Gibbons and state legislators seem to favor mandatory seat belts.

I would think it would be your constitutional right to choose. Given the choice, would you rather have a police officer protecting our neighborhoods and welfare or looking for people not wearing their seat belts? Is it more beneficial to collect $5.5 million in federal money for passing this and collecting the fines for non-compliance, or is it more important to prevent the neighborhood shooting, the drunken driver or driver exceeding the speed limit? Makes you wonder where the priorities are.

Of course, we may be paying a higher premium for our insurance because of those who do not wear seat belts, but that is also something that should be regulated by insurance policies. So the bottom line is "to call your state legislators or not to call your state legislators ." That is the question.

Chuck Neiry, Las Vegas