More Buzzers – And Costs

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Just as it wasn’t enough to force everyone who buys a new car to buy just one – or just two – air bags, it is no longer enough to force them to buy just two seatbelt buzzers. One for the driver – and for the front seat passenger. Or the sandwich that’s sitting there.

And it’s actually more involved – and more expensive – than just that.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – which “administers” over much more than just the highways – is about to decree that all new passenger vehicles be equipped with seat belt buzzers for the back seat occupants. This is in addition to the buzzers already just mandated that hector the driver to not “forget” there are people back there (even if there aren’t any back there) when he parks the vehicle.

This will mean three more backseat buzzers for most cars – and as many as six more, if the vehicle is an SUV with three rows of seats.

Also, the already-mandatory buzzers for the driver and front seat passenger are to be “expanded” – which is to say, they are to be made even more belligerently insistent than the current systems, which harass the driver (and front seat passenger) with obnoxious claxons that are purely punitive in nature. If that were not so, they damnable things would shut off after a moment, even if you did not “buckle up.” Obviously, by then, you’re aware you’re not “buckled up” – assuming you’d forgotten.

One short buzz would remind you.

But it is not about reminding. It is about pestering you severely so that you “buckle up” just to shut the damned thing up. Luckily, it is easy enough to gut the buzzer – or simply “buckle up” the seat before you sit down. This is especially handy as regards the front passenger seat, because by buckling up the seat you avoid the damnable buzzer harassing you because you failed to “buckle up” the bag of groceries you placed there.

This brings us back to the new – the pending – decree by NHTSA about buzzers for the back seats. For all the seats. It is not just the buzzers, you see. They are but one component of a system, tied into other system. For example, the front seat buzzers are tied into sensors that tie into the air bag system. They are designed to modulate the force of air bag deployment (in the event there’s an accident) according to the weight of the person (or the bag of groceries) sitting on the seat. The buzzers in back will become a part of this ever-expanding system, all of it tied together. All of it adding to the cost of what you get to pay for it.

The NHTSA merely “administers,” you see.

How much this will cost you is probably “only” a couple hundred bucks – at time of purchase. Plus whatever it costs, down the road, when the various bits and pieces fail and the system stops working. Keeping in mind that in most states, you will have to pay to get it fixed as the system is a federally mandated “safety” system and your vehicle will fail the state-mandated “safety” inspection if that or any other federally mandated “safety” system is not operating.

But not to worry. You’ll find a way to pay for it.

There is a worse affront, though. It is this cloying, supercilious parenting by the government. That is to say, by the busybodies backed by the force of government who are the government.

The order to “buckle up” is that given by a parent to a child. It is effronterous to push “buckling up” on a grown man or woman in their own vehicle. For exactly the same reason it would be effronterous to harangue a grown man or woman at a restaurant for ordering “too much” food.

Or the “wrong” kind of food, according to cloying, supercilious busybodies.

The background reasoning for this busybody’ing is identical. It is said (by the busybodies) that it is “unsafe” to drive a car without “buckling up” and that by not “buckling up,” the recalcitrant person might “impose costs on society,” if there is an accident and they are injured. People who eat too much of the “wrong” food mightĀ  also “impose costs on society,” via health problems caused or worsened thereby.

There is always something that might happen. Even though it usually doesn’t. Also, almost no one ever checks the premise of this “society” business. It is only because of government that “society” bears costs.

But the chance that something might happen (and the transfer by government of costs to those who did not incur them)Ā is sufficient – in the eyes of supercilious busybodies – to make sure something does happen.

To everyone.

More is certain to happen, too – as there is no end to supercilious busybody’ing. Once it is allowed to pass here, it inevitably expands there. It is how, over the course of roughly 50 years, we transitioned from cars that had seat belts if you wanted them to cars with 4-6 air bags plus a system of obnoxious buzzers purposely designed to punish any driver who dares to exercise his own judgment as regards “buckling up” in his own car that he paid for. Whether you wanted any of that or not. Shortly – within about two years from now – to be expanded to buzzers that harass and punish those in the backseats, too.

No doubt the busybody’ing won’t be complete, even then. The “administrators” being intent upon making it so that buckling the seat won’t trick the system into shutting up. Probably, there will be a camera to make sure you are “buckled up.”

To get a feeling for what’s coming, pull up the scene in the movie adaptation of Orwell’s 1984, starring John Hurt, in which his character is obliged to perform exercises in front of a Tele-Screen, the exercises led by a supercilious government bitch who won’t stop pestering Winston Smith (played by Hurt) until he does what he’s told, like a good little boy.

It’s all for his own good, you see. To keep him healthy. And to reduce the potential for any costs that might be imposed on “society.”

. . .

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100 COMMENTS

  1. My husband knows some sort of hack with Fords to disable it using the key fob. He’s done it on my current and last two cars, as well as his company owned Ford truck. Even when the seatbelt alarm (mine was more of a bell) was still enabled, it was pretty quiet and could be drowned out by the music.
    My car was in the bodyshop and I was driving a new RAV4 rental for a week. I went to my bank and then was going over to a store behind it using a short access road – about 45 seconds of driving total, so I didn’t bother with the seatbelt, since I wasn’t even going on the “public roadway,” just cutting between two parking lots.
    The RAV4 starts out polite, a quiet ding every 5 seconds, but by 30 seconds, it is a loud, insistent, constant alarm. DINGDINGDINGDINGDING….! No way could anyone drive with that racket going on. You’d be tempted to drive straight off the nearest boat dock.
    I agree, it’s not to remind you that you forgot to put it on, it’s to badger you into putting it on. The difference between a machine operating for my convenience and comfort vs. the machine issuing orders to me and making my life hell if I don’t obey … and you get all that for $550/month plus taxes, fees and destination.

    • Hi Amy,

      I see a new industry being created…software experts and auto mechanics bypassing certain annoying features of today’s new cars. I would pay a boatload if I could find someone to do this.

      • Right. When my husband drove a performance car, he had an “exhaust guy,” someone who upgraded his system and removed or bypassed certain government required components that slowed it down. But now we need a “computer guy” to deal with all the superfluous bullshit.

        • Indeed, Amy –

          The first thing I did to my ’76 Trans-Am when I bought it (way back in the ’90s!) was to Sawzall off the catalytic converter and throw it in the Woods. On cars of its vintage, this dramatically improves the performance and the only “programming” involved is richening up the air-fuel mixture via larger jets in the carburetor!

  2. In nearly every car I’ve ever owned, I’ve simply disconnected the wiring harness connected to the driver’s seat or pulled the thing that made the buzzing noise. Problem gone.

  3. The ATV the school owns (where I work) has a governor if you don’t use the seat belts. At least that one is easy to defeat (just put the clip in). So lame…..

  4. With regards to defeating these seat belt buzzers and dingers, my husband has found a way to do that, though it takes some time. In the vehicles he’s had, the dingers simply die over a period of a couple years or so. He has pretty much worn out the dinger in both our vehicles, a 2011 Dodge Ram and a 2016 Honda CRV. The Honda has a particularly annoying one – it keeps on for miles!
    Luckily the only time they ding is when I am driving and he is in the passenger seat (I choose to wear a seatbelt so they wouldn’t ding for me anyway). Most of the time he drives.
    He also wore out the one in his work van after about two years or less….

    The same thing would happen with these new fangled dingers….my husband would ignore them and one day they will quit dinging. No plans to buy anything new right now – knock on wood our vehicles run well.

    That said, my husband is an electrical/mechanical engineer and he could easily defeat these things if he wanted to waste the time on it. In his mind, it’s just easier to ignore and wait for it to die.

  5. ‘How much this will cost you is probably ā€œonlyā€ a couple hundred bucks ā€“ at time of purchase.’ — eric

    Oh well, we’re all paying with Federal Woke & Broke Notes anyhow.

    https://ibb.co/T4DYhF9

    Feel free to print as many as you need (minus ten percent for the Big Guy).

  6. In 2018 when I purchased my last New Car (which was and will be my last New Car), I programmed out the Seat Belt Warning and Daytime Running Lights before the Vehicle left the Dealership. Not only are these things stupid, they are embarrassing.

  7. We have a minivan with removable seats in the middle row. How will newer minivans, or any vehicle, be able to have removable seats in the future if there are wires for the seat belt sensors?

    • The belts are attached to the body/structure, not to the seat. The buckle is usually to the seat. Though it is entirely likely they will just ban removable seats- they are that arrogant. Bluetooth/RFID would need some provision for charging- which is also do-able but why?

  8. My 2003 Lexus ES300 had a non-intrusive system. It would illuminate and chime for less than 20 seconds. it then goes silent. I liked that feature a lot. From teh 90’s to the early 2000’s seat belt warnings were not intrusive at all. Something changed around 2004-05.

  9. The 2018 Grand Cherokee has a ā€œprocessā€ to shut off the belt ding ding ding, I did this last year. Itā€™s online somewhere I donā€™t remember the exact sequence but it did the trick and itā€™s permanent until you (hah!) want it back on. Ditto for my 2003 Escape. The 1991 Silverado failed years ago, and it failed in the buzzer off fortunately.

    So, anyone with a newer rig check online & see if thereā€™s a process for you.

    Nice to have silence after stopping at the mailbox and the 5 MPH journey down the driveway.

  10. With cars becoming less fun and more for monitoring stations for Big Brother, I think I’ll keep my paid-for vehicles running indefinitely. No salt on the roads in NW Florida.

    It’s cheaper than a car note and who wants to deal with the aggravation of turbo motors/hybrids/then electric only? I do not.

    The government reminds me of “Mother” from Pink Floyd.

    Mama’s gonna check out all your girl friends for you
    Mama won’t let anyone dirty get through
    Mama’s gonna wait up till you come in
    Mama will always find out where
    You’ve been
    Mamma’s gonna keep baby healthy and clean
    Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe Ooooh Babe
    You’ll always be a baby to me

  11. Here’s an idea for them,,, a camera to monitor you walking a 360 around the car before allowing a start.
    How bout a cargo tie town buzzer, A gross weight monitor. A link to the CDC to ensure you’re up to date on your boosters. A check to the local law enforcement to ensure you have no unpaid fines, registration and safety checks up to date. A scan for unregistered guns, wacky tobaccy and alcohol monitor. ….. on and on….

    As I was once told by a fellow employee,,, “I can’t live without my Iphone. “.

    Yes,,, We luvvvvvv our digital prison.

    • Believe it or not Ken, Ford F150 already has a sort of gross weight monitor. The tail lights have vertical bars with individual lights, as the load gets heavier the more lights come on. Not seen it in person, so I might have details wrong, but you get the idea. I think it also shows up on the infotainment system, so just a hop skip and a jump to that info being transmitted somewhere. No joke, Jack!

  12. Years ago I did an end around on a riding mower so I could go in reverse with the deck engaged. The government nannies & the ambulance chasers made is such that if I dared back up the mower deck would cut off.

    Surely there’s a similar easy solution–go to junk yard & cut off seatbelt heads & leave ’em in permanently? Jump the sensors that detect weight on a seat? (and stop calling me Shirley lol).

    • Hi Mike!

      Yup – I’ve had to do the same to my riding and push mower. The saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety idiocy may have begun there, in fact. When I was a kid back in the ’80s, most push mowers did not make you hold a grab handle to keep them running. But then some idiot stuck his hand into the deck – and some lawyer sued – and now all push mowers have the damned bar you have to hold to keep the mower running. Easily defeated, though. It took a bit more work to defeat the riding mower’s automatic shutting off of the blades if you put it in reverse. But that’s been, too. Also, I defeated the saaaaaaaaaaaafety switch that used to kill the engine if you got off the mower….

      • Eric – Actually, my parents bought a new lawnmower in 1984. It was the first time I had ever seen that stupid bar. A tie wrap on the bar can solve that issue. I’m sure that the seat swtich can easily be defeated.

        What is particularly insulting to me is that the government and industry thinks that its customers have the IQ of a bananna.

        • A zip-tie works, sure, but that lever piece still makes it uncomfortable to try to hold onto if you have even a moderate-sized plot.

          For a while, I just put a piece of pipe insulation around it, though that meant it was pretty damn thick. Then I got rid of the lever, zip-tied the throttle, put on a 1/2″ pipe insulation (like a mower used to come with in the before times), and things went well. I just had to use a screwdriver to jump from the plug to the head when I wanted it to STFU.

      • Eric, I remember buying my lawn tractor back in 2005. Jumped on it to mow the yard, and when I put it in reverse, it died. I thought what the heck??? Fortunately, it was a simple fix to stick a piece of electric fence wire in the switch to jump it, and solved the govt. problem. Did the same thing to the seat kill switch. I’m a rebel, I even fixed my govt. approved gas cans so I can actually pour gas out of them!

  13. When my wife gets a hot flash when we are driving and she has to take her sweater off, the seat belt alarm goes cookoo. I call it the *hot flash alarm*.

    • Prolly the camera spotted her pendulous uhhh … and Alexa, who’s bi, went nuts, turning on the seat belt buzzer to drown out her wild erotic cackling.

      Then Mandy Cohen chimes in through the radio with a personalized PSA: ‘Have you gotten your booster yet, Hans? Hans??

      Alexa … just beam me the hell up.

  14. Wait for it. . . Wait for it. . . Any minute now we’ll get the cucked response from Greene and krappyklownface, which will entirely miss the point:

    Why can’t you just understand that this is just a minor inconvenience designed to save lives. Seatbelts are safe and effective and people can’t be relied upon to decide their own level of risk. The data shows this. It could be a whole lot worse because if it were just up to the car manufacturers alone to decide on safety measures, we’d all have to wear full-face helmets and 5-point harnesses because the liability for the car companies would otherwise put them in bankruptcy. Old man Peter’s utopia would only result in dead people strewn across the highway (upon which you freeload, you cheap bastards!) without any hope of survival. We’ll all save on insurance premiums because of this, so it’s a good thing, because even if insurance were not mandatory I would buy it anyway because I’m smart and the data shows this, right?

    Here are the numbers from Ford between 1985 and 2002: Seat belts costs $200. Subtract the amount of deaths per year 35,000 and add in insurance premium increase projected by the insurance institute of 6.24% and the result is clear that NHTSA is 100% correct. The numbers don’t lie folks.

    • Thanks for helping me to clean out the stables, Mister!

      You’ve done a capital job of imitating Greene and people like Greene who just don’t get it. Though I think many of them do. They just don’t care. They like living in a society that “cares” for people – by telling people what they may and may not do.

      • Perhaps it just massages their ego to have people reply to them, which you will get more of if you post absurd comments.

        • I think you’re right, JK. I’m not so sure about krappyklownface, but I am certain that narcissism is a driving force for Greene.

          The problem for me is that I think about new-comers to the site seeing their shitty slave-mind posts. They need to be refuted for this reason alone. The beauty is that as their posts go on their arguments appear more and more silly and eventually become self refuting.

          • I actually like that we have opposing points of view. I don’t like the AI bots or the nasty names, but we all believe what we believe. I think it is commendable that someone can visit this site and see us having a constructive debate.

            Most of the people glancing at the site are not aspiring libertarians, but likely moderates, conservatives, or liberals. If they see someone else that thinks like them then maybe they are a little more open minded to change.

            Nobody learns anything if we chase out or demean someone for having an alternative viewpoint.

            • That’s too reasonable of a response, you should be hounded off the site because it is clear you are a troll or AI chatbot that just wants to further the cause of communism/fascism!!
              You must conform to the sites viewpoints!!! No government ever, anywhere, it’s completely immoral! All taxation is theft!
              I suspect you are a member of the Lucerferian Aristocracy!!

            • Eric is nothing but patient with refuting opposing viewpoints. He hasn’t banned anyone. I don’t know how you would expect the man to listen to those whose beliefs serve to degrade, diminish, and ultimately destroy him and everyone else without refuting them EVERY SINGLE TIME. You expect him to suffer the “it’s just a mask” or “your taxes provide you with services” crowd in silence, so as to be more “inclusive”?

              Speaking for myself here but some beliefs are wrong. Period. That’s not demeaning. It’s a fact. Folks who hear that on this site via their interactions either figure this out and learn, stay and continue to be wrong and continue to be told so, or move on to another site. Seems entirely reasonable to me…

              • “”I donā€™t know how you would expect the man to listen to those whose beliefs serve to degrade, diminish, and ultimately destroy him and everyone else without refuting them EVERY SINGLE TIME.””

                See this is the shit I’m talking about. Completely over the top dramatics. A differing viewpoint is not meant to degrade/diminish/destroy anyone. It’s like comparing rape to an airport pat down. It’s absurd. You can’t have a conversation with people that feel any little disagreement on an issue is the end of the world for them. And because of that typical fanatical response it is difficult to have a discussion. That and the desire to kick anyone off of the site that is just to the left of an anarchist.

                • Some people see how the precedent is set and how one thing follows on another, small at first and bigger as time goes on, and then you’re in a boxcar to the gulag and it’s too late. Others don’t or pretend not to.

                  Up until 2020, I had kinda given up on the intellectual side of liberty because I was content to file the forms and pay the tax and be left alone. Then the gov’t decided to renege on that deal and put my business and lock me down for the cold and flu. So, yeah, at this point, I’m a fucking maniac about liberty and push back, and support others in pushing back on every little “infringement” because I know who these fuckers are and what they really do. It might be the “end of the world” for me. It’s not some intellectual parlor game for me anymore.

                  Also, like I said, no one’s been kicked off. Stay and learn or continue to be refuted. Just stop whining like a bitch.

                  • “Some people see how the precedent is set and how one thing follows on another, small at first and bigger as time goes on, and then youā€™re in a boxcar to the gulag and itā€™s too late. Others donā€™t or pretend not to.”

                    There are people out there that just can’t seem to assess risk. I think it goes to a lack of critical thinking and situational awareness skills. It boggles my mind sometimes. Billions of people lining up for the jab still floors me.

                    “Iā€™m a fucking maniac about liberty. . .” I was pretty staunch before 2020, but I feel the same way as you now. People like krusty call it “over the top dramatics” because they’re just not use to having any convictions. They go along to get along (i.e. do what they’re told).

                  • You are the dramatic bitch. “boxcar to the gulag”, please this government can’t properly imprison murderers it’s not going to suddenly go all soviet and send people away. What a ridiculous level of paranoia. That kind of stuff happened years ago and nothing like it happens now. And it will never happen in a nation as full of guns as this one.

                    • Said in monotone, robotic like voice:

                      I’m so happy your totally unsupported statement about the gov’ts imprisonment of murderers and many others, general insouciance about the threat posed by such gov’t especially in the face of what has happened, not in ancient history, but the last three years, and your appeal to gunzzzz is reflected on this site and that you are a part of the community of commenters. It adds so much to the richness of the conversation.

                    • RE: “itā€™s not going to suddenly go all soviet and send people away.”

                      You mean like they didn’t do to all those J-6 people?

                      Or, like how they don’t do to the millions who rot in prisons for all sorts of non-violent ‘crimes’ like say, not paying a fine? A.k.a. debtorsā€™ prisons.

                      ‘A Tale of Two Americas: Where the Rich Get Richer and the Poor Go to Jail’

                      “America spends $80 billion a year incarcerating 2.4 million people.

                      https://www.lewrockwell.com/2018/01/john-w-whitehead/a-tale-of-two-americas-where-the-rich-get-richer-and-the-poor-go-to-jail/

                      …Did the Soviets ever have that many people in prison?

                    • Krusty,

                      In view of what happened during the “pandemic” is it really a “ridiculous level of paranoia” to imagine the government taking it to the next level? Given the fact that it almost did?

                      Do you not remember them “locking down” most of the country? Using armed government workers to enforce it? And the same AGWs to enforce Diaper mandates? We came this close to a system in which the government would require you to not only submit to being “vaccinated” but also to having to provide proof thereof as a condition of being allowed to do essentially anything. People were to be scanned every time they entered a store or other such place – and denied entry if they were not Good Germans, in good standing.

                      So, it’s not “paranoia.” It’s a reasonable assessment based on facts and the implications thereof.

                    • I hope your right, but have no faith you are. look at Europe now, where you can be imprisoned for speech.

                • “You canā€™t have a conversation with people that feel any little disagreement on an issue is the end of the world for them.”
                  That’s just the point krusty. If some of these issues are not addressed and opposed, they may very well be the end of the world, for us and for you.

              • Where did I say Eric was any of these things, Funk? Do you dream this shit up? Not once did I dismiss this site or its posters. My post was nothing more than complimentary and if you read anything else into it that is your own hallucination.

                • You didn’t say Eric was any of these things. I did. Nor did I say you dismissed the site or any of its posters. Nice try at deflection, though.

                  In the context of your reply to Mr. Liberty who said “The problem for me is that I think about new-comers to the site seeing their shitty slave-mind posts. They need to be refuted for this reason alone. The beauty is that as their posts go on their arguments appear more and more silly and eventually become self refuting”, your statement “nobody learns anything if we chase out or demean someone for having an alternative viewpoint”, which implies exactly that is being done to Krusty. Otherwise, why would you say it?

            • Thank you for an intelligent reply, the other RG.

              My opinion on buzzers was already predicted, and insulted, before I wrote it.

              The prediction was wrong.

              I favor mandatory seat belts, as the greatest auto safety mandate of all time, but I am against all buzzers.

              The smart people will wear their seat belts without buzzers.

              The dumb people will not wear their seat belts, and the buzzers will annoy them. I don’t want the dumb people to be annoyed.

              The drivers, and their passengers, are currently given a choice on using seat belts, and they freely make that choice. A person, whether a driver or a passenger, who gets into a vehicle with no seat belts available, is NOT given a choice.

              A true libertarian is not anti-government and anti-taxes. That would be an anarchist. A true libertarian believes in small government and low taxes. We also believe it is a government’s job to fund policemen, courts, prisons and a volunteer military force to protect the nation.

              My comments on the benefits of owning a home, following the previous article complaining about the property tax of owning a home, were not non sequiturs (meaning a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement.)

              My comments explained the benefits of owning a home in detail, to add balance to an article complaining about one cost of owning a home — property taxes.

              King Peters is not very polite to me on any additions to his articles, or disagreements with his beliefs. Sometimes he publishes harsh comments, twice including throwing the F-bomb at me, that may mysteriously “disappear” later. And his cult members pile on too. This criticism has caused some commenters to disappear, which seems to be the goal of the ridicule and the insults. I will join them.

              • Richard,

                You “favor mandatory seat belts” but not buzzers (and, presumably, not enforcement of “buckle up” laws). Why?

                Your position is incongruous. Absent the annoying buzzers – which are punitive – and the enforcement (also punitive, obviously) a person who does not wish to wear a seat belt won’t. So why force him to buy one?

                And if you support people being forced to buy seat belts, how can you intelligently (consistently) argue against the mandating of any other “safety” device or technology? It makes no sense. It is just your subjective value judgment, imposed by the force of the government.

              • Richard writes:

                “A true libertarian is not anti-government and anti-taxes.”

                Who appointed you the Decider of libertarian principles?

                Your statement is fatuous – as libertarians oppose theft and robbery and so oppose all “taxes” (as such theft and robbery are styled) in principle. It is Republicans and “conservatives” who defend “some” taxes as necessary (as they see it) and thereby agree in principle to taxing everything.

                As far as the F bombs disappearing. Yes. I often get enraged by your oleaginous (and insulting) superciliousness and let one loose. It is not my habit and I often regret being pushed to it by people like you.

                But Dicks tend to do that.

        • Why canā€™t you just understand that this is just a minor inconvenience designed to save lives? Seatbelts are safe and effective and people canā€™t be relied upon to decide their own level of risk. The data shows this. It could be a whole lot worse because if it were just up to the car manufacturers alone to decide on safety measures, weā€™d all have to wear full-face helmets and 5-point harnesses because the liability for the car companies would otherwise put them in bankruptcy. Old man Peterā€™s utopia would only result in dead people strewn across the highway (upon which you freeload, you cheap bastards!) without any hope of survival. Weā€™ll all save on insurance premiums because of this, so itā€™s a good thing, because even if insurance were not mandatory I would buy it anyway because Iā€™m smart and the data shows this, right?

      • Don’t know exactly who first said it, but someone noted that it’s more tolerable to live under an outright “evil” tyrant than those self-appointed busybodies whose mantra is either “for YOUR own ‘good’ “, or, the “Greater” good. At some point, the appetite of “Dr Evil” is sated as he “takes a pause in the ’cause’ “, but with the busybodies, enough NEVER is!

          • “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber barons cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

            • The quote that precedes it is just as good:

              “If we are to be mothered, mother must know best. . . . In every age the men who want us under their thumb, if they have any sense, will put forward the particular pretension which the hopes and fears of that age render most potent. They ā€˜cash in.ā€™ It has been magic, it has been Christianity. Now it will certainly be science. . . . Let us not be deceived by phrases about ā€˜Man taking charge of his own destiny.ā€™ All that can really happen is that some men will take charge of the destiny of others. . . . The more completely we are planned the more powerful they will be.” ā€”C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock

    • I always find it amusing that the safety Nazis are all bent out of shape by the number of transportation deaths (43000 in 2021) and gun murders (44310 in 2022, though actually around 15000 when you back out suicides and gangland crimes)- when the number of people killed by medicine and pharma is at least 250000 per year.

      There is literally no end to the number of my God given rights they are willing to deny me, while ignoring vastly bigger problems. Maybe the government could as a minimum license doctors… If it saves only one life it will be worth it!

      • Also after the imposition of “mandatory primary” seat belt laws, traffic fatalities rose, sometimes dramatically. The number of traffic deaths which might theoretically be prevented by seat belts/helmets/air bags is similarly a small fraction of the total.

      • Hi Ernie,

        I am pretty sure they want us to die, which is why they completely ignore the 695K deaths annually from heart disease and 605K from cancer.

        Dear American Citizen,

        We want to pretend that we give a crap about you so we are going to issue more forms of control. We believe one’s briefcase or bag of groceries could be weaponized in your vehicle if you have to slam on the brakes so we are now forcing you to go without these or to transfer them to your trunk. The amount of people that have been smacked in the head by a loaf of bread sailing through your car is too astronomical to comprehend. We believe we will save a total of 0-15 people per year by instituting these new and inconvenient rules.

        On the other hand, we really do not give a shit about the 1.3 million people that die annually because of high fructose corn syrup found in that same bag of groceries. We believe bioengineered ingredients that contain corn, canola oil, soy lecithin, and food colorings are perfectly safe to consume although most countries have banned these same additives. We know who butters our bread (no pun intended) which is why we turn the other cheek and quietly cash our kickback. We truly believe five lives saved versus 1.3 million will help us reach our goal of 500 million carbon footprints much quicker.

        Thank you for understanding.
        XOXO
        Your Government

      • In event of suicides and “gangbanging”, it’s either the “Darwin Award”, or the trash taking itself out. Good fooking riddance, either way.

    • Now the anti-government anti-tax cult at Peter’s Paradise has added a new feature. Hide behind a moniker, predict what you will comment, and then ridicule you based on what they predicted you would say. They just can’t wait for your opinion, so they write it for you, and insult what they expected you to say. The Peter’s Paradise Automated Insult System starts the insults before you’ve said anything — a first on the internet. A brilliant method to discourage comments that do not 100% agree with the King, to limit debate in Peter’s Paradise.

      • Richard,

        You incite people – and expect courtesy in return. I have tried – hard – to be civil and to engage you on the substance of issues. You then frequently eruct non sequiturs and personal attacks.

        Recent example: I state that it’s vicious to deny anyone the possibility of ever truly owning their home – via forcing them to pay endless taxes as the condition of being allowed to retain possession thereof. I add that I consider it immoral to use the force of government to compel people to pay for “services” they neither use nor want and disapprove of.

        You drive by all of that and go on and on about how much value one gets via the appreciation in value of a home. Non sequitur. Utterly beside the point. When I explain that to you, rather than acknowledge it as a separate issue and get back to discussing whether it’s moral to tax property/force people to pay for “services” they do not use or want, you keep on posting about how much a home goes up in value over the years. And then mock “Peter’s Paradise,” by which you mean I advocate some sort of “utopia,” which I have never done.

        And that’s why you’re a Dick.

      • “Peterā€™s Paradise Automated Insult System starts the insults before youā€™ve said anything”
        But you are so predictable Richard.

        • And ā€œPeterā€™s Paradise Automated Insult System” is run by the most paranoid, unaware people on the internet.

          “You insult and personally attack people, you ignorant, commie, statist, faggot dick”

          “You engage in non-sequiturs because you’re a member of the Lucerifarian Aristocracy”

          “We’re not anarchists” We just don’t want any government or to pay any taxes.

          “Government is immoral because all taxation is theft” To support that let me post a snippet from a government document the Constitution, but not the parts where they use force to uphold the laws and collect the taxes.

          It’s a slippery slope, if you let the government set safety standards for flight safety then the next thing you know you are being shipping off to camps to be gassed.

          “We welcome all points of view”, BOT! BOT!, AI, leftist infiltrators, ban, ban!

          • Krusty.

            C’mon. I have never reacted with hysterics – as you impute in your comment above. I have stated facts and drawn (reasonable) inferences and conclusions from them.

            • Add hypocrite to your list of many personal failings. You go off the deep end for the simplest of things. TSA patting your pocket? It’s like being raped!! Safety regulations=nazi Germany. And then you go “don’t get your knickers in a twist”? You are the queen of twisted knickers!!

              • Krusty, once again you’re experiencing the ill-effects of your poor reading comprehension skills. I didn’t say: “TSA patting [my] pocket [i]s like being raped!! or that Safety regulations=nazi Germany.” You’ve made that up in your mind to justify your overlord’s mis-treatment of you. The only hysteric here is you.

                I used rape as an example to refute your argument that that somebody announcing intent to molest ahead of time somehow justifies the molestation (i.e. through tacit consent). This was in response to you justifying the TSA crotch and breast feel-up (and yes, that’s what they do) when you said those who fly know they’re subject to a “pat down” or something to that effect.

                This is what happens when you have a slave-mind that’s imbibed on regime propaganda for decades. It prevents you from understanding anything which undermines the regime narrative. As I said before, you appear to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.

                I always find it interesting the reaction that I get when I encourage people to throw off the shackles that they’ve allowed to be placed on them. The reaction is almost universally anger and rage at me, which is what I see with you.

                It always comes back to the quote attributed to Mark Twain:

                “Itā€™s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.”

                • There you go again. Mind reading and exaggeration.
                  “slave-mind thatā€™s imbibed on regime propaganda”. Just because I don’t agree with you fully on some issues.
                  “Anger and rage” from a post that that points out your shortcomings.

                  Here let me do your reply:
                  Mister Libertard: Typical response from a leftist, state worshipping, idiot. You failed to answer any of my points to my satisfaction which shows that you incapable of reading comprehension and are probably a paid infiltrator or an AI chatbot. You are probably one of those people that put on a mask to see your dying grandmother-Pussy!
                  As Mark Twain said: People who don’t agree with me are assholes.

                • RE: “The reaction is almost universally anger and rage at me,”

                  Is that better, or worse, than when they stick their fingers in their ears, turn & walk or run away while saying, “I can’t hear you!”?

                  (…Yes, I’ve actually had that happen.)

              • Krusty,

                Here’s the point I think you’re missing: It’s the principle that’s being violated – which opens up the door to more and worse. If a citizen who has given no reason at all to suspect that he is a criminal can be treated as one, then the government has become criminal. I understand you believe a “pat down” is no big deal. But consider the implications. Consider the violation of what used to be inviolable (absent the person having done something to warrant it). We live in a meaner, uglier world now – and it does not “protect us from terrists.” Recall my point about general (vs. commercial aviation).

      • Richard:

        Everybody knows exactly what you’re going to say, so why not just get it over with. The “data” is in on this one already and it strongly correlates to your predictability.

        Given that we’ve now already dealt with the “substance” of yours and klownface’s responses before you even responded, now we can just cut right to your this-forum-and-its-commenters-are-not-fair objections.

        See how much more efficient that was?

  15. All this Nanny State/ Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety stuff that automobile manufacturers have been “mandated” to install in cars the past 10-15 years makes me not want to get a new vehicle, let alone one made within the past 15 years or so. The only thing my late 1990s vehicle has that’s even semi Nanny State-ish is a seat belt light & chime that “reminds” you to buckle up when you start the vehicle, which is what a mid 1970s Chevrolet Nova that I once drove also had.

  16. Ugh, that lady reminds me of Nurse Ratchet in “One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest”. I guess that means no quick stuffing my groceries in the back seat. Big Brother might think those need a seat belt, as well. And what if someone is packing the back set with stuff, because they are moving large items? I surmise one will have to clip the seat belts ahead of loading their gear, just to shut the damned things up.

    • The late Louise Fletcher, who also played that old Bajoran cvnt Kai Wynn on Star Trek: DS9. One would actually feel sorry for Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) having to get frisky with the likes of her!

  17. Driving a 2016 Jetta down to Texas from Tennessee, where we purchased the vehicle from a relative, I found that the nanny sensors didn’t like my teeny sail phone resting on the passenger seat as I used the device for navigation and police alerts.

    That was a seven year old car.

    I’m sure a setting in the “infotainment” system somewhere turned off the sensor, but I wasn’t familiar with the car and didn’t want to stop and spend an hour digging through the manual.

    If they are going to inflict the sensors on us, turning them off should be intuitive.

  18. Darn right, Eric. My ’71 AMC Hornet Sportabout had a buzzer that would sound if you had the key in the ignition and opened the driver’s door. That was it. Shoulder strap was clipped to the headliner if you wanted it… which I never did.

    While our ’21 Highlander Hybrid is a really nice machine (getting 35MPG in warm weather), the nudge on the steering wheel, the beeps if I get too close to the little white line, is often a bit much.

    And my Hornet had a V8.

    • My ’73 Chevy still has a working buzzer. I could disable it but I live with it. From what I remember of the era, certain years the car would not start if you didn’t have the belt on. Anyone else remember that?

      • Yep, mine was a tiny while plastic box under the headlight switch; unplug it and the car still worked.

        Come to think of it, 35MPG is good for a big, heavy machine like a highlander, but back when we didn’t drive big, heavy things there were plenty of cars that could do that.

        Just remembered driving a mid-70s German-built V6 Mercury Capri with a 4-speed MT, a loaner for dad. And before I had a learner’s permit, too.

      • Hi Landru,
        I do remember that; once had a rental car with that feature and it was really a temperamental pita. Sometimes I had to buckle the belt before getting in and reach through the window to turn the key and start the car šŸ˜–. Glad that didnā€™t catch on.

    • In 1974 the good ‘ol U.S. government Department of Transportation mandated all new cars and light trucks have seatbelt interlocks that would prevent the engine from starting unless the driver and passenger belts were buckled. My ’74 Plymouth Gold Duster still has the wiring for that, but when I bought it back in 1986, the connection under the front bench seat had long since been disconnected. I do buckle up, though, because that car’s slippery vinyl seat would make me slide practically into the passenger well on a hard left turn if I was unbuckled!

        • Yeah, a black canopy vinyl top…I should say it HAD one until I tore it off because it began to rust underneath the material.

          No oil, eh? Those Slant 6s were hard to break!

        • I had a ā€˜75 Dart with a vinyl top, loved the 225 slant six since everything needing maintenance was right up top and easy to access; there was so much room you could practically stand inside the engine compartment. Always carried a spare ballast resistor too, since it would always crap out at the most inconvenient times.

      • Indeed, Bill. That is one of only two legitimate reasons for wearing a seat belt in a car in daily use. With old cars with bench seats, especially vinyl ones, a simple lap belt helps keep you in place. I had a 73 Jeep Commando which not only had a vinyl split bench, but the doors would pop open on a hard corner- which caused a number of young lady passengers to crawl over into my lap…

        The only other legit reason is where the driver is commercially operating a truck or other big, dangerous rig and being held into the seat might help them keep control and avoid damage to others.

        • That is indeed why I do wear a seatbelt. So I can stay behind the wheel and perhaps drive out of a bad situation. And insist my front seat passengers do as well, so they don’t end up in my lap while I’m trying to do so. Regardless what style or material the front seat is.

      • I remember sliding around on one of those vinyl bench seats…. in my case it was a 77′ Ford LTD that I drove around when I was in high school. I remember being glad for the seatbelts for that very reason.

  19. Will these new buzzers be customized for 100 pound dogs? How about 25 pound dogs? Cats in a carrier? My 20 pound purse? My suitcase? So the back of my car can no longer be used for what I would like to use it for? Awesome. I love being dictated on how to use an asset that I have paid for. šŸ˜” I wish these little Nazis would stop imposing regulations onto the rest of us. I donā€™t need them to lookout for my ā€œwellbeingā€, I am perfectly capable of doing that myself.

    • RG,
      Or not, if you so prefer. Which is sort of the point. Your preferences have no weight, per the Psychopaths In Charge. Unless you prefer being fat.

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