The Fraud of Seat-Belt Laws

On the promise of reducing highway fatalities and auto insurance
rates, seat-belt laws began to pass in state legislatures throughout
the United States beginning in 1985.


While such laws had been proposed before 1985, they were rejected by
most state legislators since they knew the vast majority of the people
opposed them. "The Gallup Opinion Index," report no. 146, October
1977, stated: "In the latest survey, a huge majority, 78 percent,
opposes a law that would fine a person $25 for failure to use a seat
belt. This represents an increase of resistance since 1973 to such a
law. At that time 71 percent opposed a seat belt use law." "The Gallup
Report" (formerly "The Gallup Opinion Index"), no. 205, October 1982,
report showed that a still-high 75 percent queried in June of that
year opposed such a law.

Given the massive, obvious opposition to seat-belt laws, why did state
legislators suddenly change their minds and begin to pass them in
1985? Simple-money and federal blackmail. According to the Associated
Press, Brian O'Neill, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety, said, "People have been talking about seatbelt laws and there
have been attempts to pass them for well over 10 years. It's been a
snowball effect, once the money poured in."

https://ndlegis.gov/prod/assembly/67-2021/testimony/HTRAN-2121-20210318-9940-F-GREENSTEIN_GORDON_W.pdf