Paternistic Laws

1109 Words5 Pages
We already know paternalistic laws are made on grounds of the government trying to protect the people of the nation from themselves. The laws can include laws concerning safety, health, economic welfare, morality, and education. Today we will talk about laws concerning safety more importantly automobile safety. A certain little law called “click it or ticket, Massachusetts is serious about saving lives” this quote is from a campaign done by the Rhode Island, and Massachusetts police divisions. There are a lot of problems with this law. It causes problems for car makers, it causes problems for motorists and it exploits the general public out of their own hard earned money. Either way everyone loses. While the law itself is reasonable…show more content…
I like to think that even when all the number add up you can always argue semantics but that is not what this is about. This is about us being ripped off because of a law that is both unreasonable and unfortunately unstoppable. Milton Friedman would probably rip this who thing to shreds and name all the things that are wrong for this, just like I am going to do. Paternalistic laws concerning safety are very arguable, especially when we talk about laws concerning something as small as seatbelt. There aren’t many ways to justify these laws except on the ground of paternalism. We will also discuss how these laws can either be truly paternalistic or are they simply rules to keep you safe. Cars have grown more and more complex over the years. They have gone on and on from metal to plastics the reason being that it makes cars safer and it makes a greater crumble zone. This is where the real money goes. The government makes new regulations about how safe a car must be. In this process the car must be tested over and over again, this costs money. New modifications must be made, this cost money. Occasionally when a car is done wrong it must be fixed, this cost money. Everything in the process costs…show more content…
That is why it creates paternalistic laws to protect life. However to protect us the government makes us may so much to accomplish this goal. I would rather make my own decision to be safe. They are limiting my freedom in so many ways. If I do no put my seatbelt on me would get a ticket. The ticket does not prevent the accident. If anything it makes you angry and nervous and more susceptible to get into an accident. So it is with any doubt in my mind that tickets for us not putting seatbelts on are senseless and useless. It makes cars more difficult to make for car makers, it causes problems for civilians, and mostly it makes everything generally more expensive for both the producer and the
Open Document