Safety Causes Death
As related by economist Tim Harford, safety
causes death. More succinctly, it has been demonstrated that
seatbelt laws lead to increases in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities.
Something to keep in mind as our modern Stasi heed the whims of our
überführers in the Click It or Ticket
nanny-state
campaign (I should note here that I have, to my present knowledge, never
in the last decade travelled in a car without a seatbelt—and
before that, but once, and in a parking lot at that). On other words,
every action has unintended consequences. As a cyclist, I worry about
anything which makes drivers more careless. As a free man, I worry
about anything which reduces that freedom.
