Ok, so lots of people say anyone who doesn't wear a seatbelt is a moron and should be prosecuted and fined and all that punitive nonsense.
I disagree.
If I want to be an idiot, if I want to risk headbutting my airbag or flying through the windscreen then that should be my personal choice, it shouldn't be for the state to say I must.
I just got pulled for not weraing a seatbelt on a trip into town to get some money from the hole in the wall. Net result is a £30 fine. Lovely.
Now i know there are lots of arguments out there in favour of wearing the damn things but jesus, have a bit of leniency in the system for christs sake. I genuinely forget to belt up and get whacked with a £30 fine! its just not far i tell you. Yeah yeah, i hear all those voices saying, aha Rob well at least you'll think twice next time and all that stuff but still....
The motorist in the uk is such an easy target, we are a milked cash cow, criminalised and chased at every opportunity. I really really really dislike the mentality in this country that says bossy boots copper can dole out tickets willy nilly for piffling little things like failing to wear a poxy seat belt. If you look at the legislation it gives all manner of exemptions. If you are an emergency services person then it allows you discretion. This I can understand. It also allows people who drive people for hire (licensed taxis) for example an exemption from the law. Why? What is it about a cab driver that excludes them from the possibilty of flying through windscreens or nutting the steering wheel?
The law is an ass, either its dangerous to not wear a seat belt or it isn't. If a copper or a fireman or an ambulance worker needs to eject themselves from their vehicle quickly, then i can understand that a belt might impede them. But hang on, what if i were in an accident and happened to be constrained by the belt, what if the car was on fire and i couldnt release the damn thing, what then? Burn perhaps?
On balance i'm sure the damn things are probably safer to wear than not but it really should be my right to decide on whether I wear one or not.It's nanny state interference!
£30 feckin quid!!! Bastard. I asked the pc concerned whether or not she'd perhaps had a bad day and whether she enjoyed just pissing people off and ruining their day, to which she replied, ive had a great day sir, you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if....fuckin robot! hang on i said, interrupting her, talk to me like a human being for christs sake, don't dehumanise me behind that facade of thing you think is justice...Sir, she responded, i'm just doing my job, I have no discretion over such things...what a fuckin robot.
At this point i gave up, no point antagonising a robot, they just call in the other robots and rip your car to bits to find something else to slap you with.
can anyone see where Im coming from here? can anyone see that she really didn't have to issue that ticket, she could have just told me off and warned me that if she saw me again she'd ticket me. No discretion indeed, what bollocks is that? Let me guess, she'll go back to the station and wear a lie detector that will recognise that she saw a naughty motorist without a seatbelt and thus gwt reprimanded for behaving like a human?
If you are a policeman or woman reading this, then jesus christ, try and behave like a human, and if you don't or don't want to even, then at least take a little look inside yourself and question why youve become such a horrible bastard at least. It just really isn't necessary.
end of rant.