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| As of '98 Illinois enforced seatbelt use with roadblocks |
Chicagoans got a 4th of July gift from their state government this year in the shape of a new order to wear seat belts in the back seats of their cars.
They can be stopped by police if any back seat rider is seen unbuckled and ticketed and fined.
The latest in the never-ending stream of nanny state ukases went into effect on July 1 after being signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn.
The history of IL government impingement in this little area of liberty is almost a case study of Ronald Reagan's proverbial frog in the simmering cauldron.
In '85, Illinois passed its first seatbelt law, but then it assured citizens that cops would not make traffic stops for this alone and would not issue tickets for this, unless it was noticed in the course of some greater infraction.
All that went by the way in 1998, when the all knowing nannies in Springfield passed a strengthened law making seatbelt usage a stoppable offence.
Today we have seatbelt-check government roadblocks and now this back seat requirement.
The nanny-staters continually whine that these are "common sense safety measures" and maybe they are. But so is coming inside out of the rain and a free citizenry doesn't have government agents to enforce that -- yet.
A masterful study was recently issued by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, which analysed the levels of personal liberty in the 50 American States.
Illinois came in 49th in personal liberties -- behind even ultra-left Massachussetts and New York.
The new backseat buckle law was the brainchild of Chicago State Senator John Cullerton, who over the years seems to have never seen a cause too trivial not to require that it be remedied by decree backed by government force.
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| Chief nanny, Sen John Cullerton |
And Cullerton is re-elected time and again by landslide numbers by the 200,000 sheeple of his North side city of Chicago legislative district.
Will the last patriot there please turn out the lights?
Happy 4th of July, Chicago and be sure to celebrate your independence by buckling everybody up -- or else.
When you think about it, it's pretty scary that they can just go into your car, your personal space like that, just to make sure that the straps are in place. It's creepy.
ReplyDeleteI remember when the laws were passed, and how we weren't supposed to be pulled over for seat belt infractions, but could only be ticketed it we were pulled over for something else and the unbuckled belt was seen by the police. Incrementalism, indeed!
Just like the smoking laws, and everything else.
I do hope you had a great Independence Day though!
I read citizen comments in the Tribune from back in '85 and lots of people were outraged by the 1st seatbelt law. Some even challenged its constitutionality in court. Today, barely a whimper of protest. People around Chicago seem to have lost their spines.
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