THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 2, 1997 TAG: 9612310036
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 26 lines
In response to Joan Beck's Dec. 4 column on air bags: Hear, hear. All of the government's response to the air-bag controversy has focused on further restricting motorists' freedom and mandating increased costs, begging the question of why air bags are required in the first place.
Air bags are the response of a liberal-minded nanny-government to the cries of people who will not take care of themselves. If someone is too foolish, lazy, unaware or immortal to buckle his seat belt, he is not held accountable for his decision. Instead, the rest of us must sacrifice our liberty and incur greater cost to coddle these children.
Air bags are designed to protect a 179-pound man not wearing a seat belt in a 30-mph crash. I weigh significantly more than this, often drive faster than 30-mph and always wear my seat belt, so air bags do nothing for me. Yet, the government requires me to buy an expensive and patently dangerous explosive device when I buy a new car.
What happened to the American ideal of taking responsibility for one's actions and decisions?
ALAN A. RECHEL
Norfolk, Dec. 18, 1996