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Comment by __turbobrew__

7 months ago

I agree. I also wear a seatbelt and do not ride a motorcycle, but I think people should be allowed to take risks with their own life if they want to. The next natural step from this legislation is government mandated diets and exercise regimens to combat the obesity epidemic — and the resulting mortality — in the United States.

I disagree. If I'm going to be forced to collectively absorb risk, then I have a right to decide what risks people can take. The main issue is that it's not just the risk of death like you're suggesting, they usually just get severely injured and it's a drain on public health infrastructure, my insurance costs, and everyone else gets shafted when their serious injury gets moved to the front of the line. I've only been to the urgent care once, but a particularly bad car crash made us wait several hours. I've had appointments delayed because of risks other people take with their own life.

We're too closely connected in modern society to just let people exclusively decide what risks they want to take, because their risks are also our risks. I wish our collective wellbeing wasn't tied to the guy who wants to drive without a seatbelt, but that's the world right now.