Last month was a little hectic for us with two kids graduating from high school, one finishing up two years of college, our oldest son and his family moving back to Washington and moving in with us, packing for two different vacations, and then of course being gone for our vacations. I let a few things fall behind, but this news story is so crazy, I decided I just had to share it. Even crazier were some of the comments left by readers.
Seat belt infractions may cost Battle Ground man $1,240
Ten of the 17 people in vehicle were unbuckled children
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
A Battle Ground man received 10 tickets totaling $1,240 Sunday afternoon for packing his nine-seat Suburban with 17 people, nine of whom were children not wearing seat belts.
The 37-year-old driver said he was en route to Rocky’s Pizza, 1901 W. Main St., when a Washington State Patrol trooper stopped him on Highway 502 in Dollars Corner. The trooper noticed the driver wasn’t wearing his seat belt and that the unbuckled passengers were all children, said Trooper Will Finn, spokesman for the patrol.
The vehicle, a 2007 Chevrolet Suburban, legally carries nine people. A woman sat in the front passenger’s seat with a child next to her — both buckled — and fourteen kids were packed into the remaining six seats.
Had the vehicle rolled or been involved in a collision, the children could have moved about the cabin and been hurt, Finn said. Troopers occasionally run into motorists carrying an extra passenger, but eight extra people?
“That’s a lot,” Finn said. “The trooper averted a potential tragedy.”
Eventually, other adults arrived and drove away with each of the kids in seat belts. What do you think? Crazy story right? If you think the story is crazy, what do you think about these comments?
James Edmondson · Top Commenter
So dumb. How did humans survive for thousands of years riding on horseback, wagons and chariots, and for over a half a century riding in cars, without seat belts? When those old cars spontaneously flipped over, I'll bet all the passengers just instantly exploded. This trooper saved no lives and everyone knows it. They would've peacefully driven to the pizza shop and gone home, no big deal. But now the driver and the kids, boy, they know who's the boss. Their family might go hungry paying the tickets off, but that just means they can wrap that belt tighter over their empty tummies.
How can anyone LIKE James' comments? People that think like this perpetuate a victim environment, never accepting responsibility for their choices, and always blaming other people or circumstances for their problems.
What about individual liberty and freedom? Shouldn't this man be able to do as he wishes, in a vehicle that he owns? Mandating the use of seat belts is no more or no less than mandating health care, right Robert? Big Government intruding in the lives of Patriot Americans. Your rhetoric seems left leaning, looking for the government to take care of us, Communism or maybe Socialism? No, hypocrite.
Sometimes I think people write comments like these to illicit a reaction, keep the conversation going, or draw attention to themselves. Whatever their motive, the driver, other adults in the van, and these comments are ridiculous. Seat belts save lives.
You can read the original article and additional comments here.
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