Letter: Government should stay out of our lives

Wednesday, March 28, 2007 | 7:08 a.m.

It seems that whenever a new technology becomes available, the government seizes on the opportunity to exercise its authority. As in the case of the seat belt laws, the reason is because it arbitrarily "saves lives."

They also use misleading statistics to make the issue more credible, such as not taking into account the number of deaths that occur on the road by those not wearing seat belts who are drunk or otherwise incapacitated. However, the overall contention is true, but it's also false because, under certain circumstances, wearing a seat belt during an accident can kill.

Smoking kills and eating copious amounts of junk food kills, as do many other things, and my concern is that as technology advances, there will be more laws to regulate every movement we make in life. We are not an endangered species. It's our freedoms that are endangered.

If an adult chooses not to wear a seat belt, that should be the business of the adult and no one else, and if the adult is killed or maimed because of it, then it's the fault of the adult and no one else. The bottom line to this letter is that it's better for thousands to die because they choose not to wear a seat belt rather than have one die because the government forced the person to wear it.

Fred Bilello, Las Vegas