Posted by David Sherman on Thursday, December 16, 2004 at 1:40PM :
In Reply to: Re: America - another point of view posted by Tims on Thursday, December 16, 2004 at 11:38AM :
If it's just a matter of money, there are also lots of people who survive messed-up because they were wearing a seatbelt, who would have died instantly if they weren't. So I could just as easily say that if you want to wear a seatbelt or a motorcycle helmet, you should sign a disclaimer that if you end up surviving a wreck that would otherwise have killed you, the rest of us won't have to pay for your medical care, rehab, nursing home, disability, etc. Furthermore, if you'd been killed in that wreck, you could have been an organ donor and your organs could have saved the lives of several other people.
I'm not saying this is always how it is, but it's also another way to look at it. Maybe the only practical solution is to get the government out of it totally and let everybody make their own choices, for better or worse. I suspect that in terms of insurance costs, it's pretty much a wash between the people whose injuries were less severe as a result of wearing a seatbelt or a helmet, versus those who, by not wearing it, died instantly (and cheaply) rather than requiring lots of expensive medical treatment.
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