Letter to the Editor: Seat belt law doesn't reduce fatalities

To the Editor:
As every holiday approaches, we hear and read that old stale blurb “buckle up,” and our so-called safety officials are more concerned about protecting that sacred idol, the seat belt law (SBL) than they are about “true safety” which is to prevent crashes. Their primary concern is SBL compliance. They never tell us what percent of the victims were seat belted that were crashed into by big rig trucks. Of course those victims are politically correct even when dead if they’re just seat belted.
I asked several area sheriff’s departments how much speed enforcement they do on big trucks. I got no answers, or evasive ones, which I’ll take to mean they aren’t doing any speed enforcement on them. They don’t get any funding to do truck speed enforcement, but I’ll bet they get funding to do seat belt enforcement. They love doing the latter because its easier and less dangerous to officers than to do the former.
The state of New Hampshire doesn’t have any SBL for adults. They put their effort in enforcing laws to prevent crashes and they have a lower than average fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel of 0.84 in 2012, while SBL Iowa had 1.16 (sending proof to Editor). This fact is such an embarrassment to the SBL officials and zealots that you’ll never hear this fact through the politically favorable professional propaganda system, from which you’ll only hear and read what you’re supposed to know.

Herman Lenz
Sumner