Writer’s subject covers his death

While reading through the Urban Legends Website I came across one about a person who wrote about not wearing seatbelts, and then dying in a car accident because he was not wearing a seatbelt.

Derek Kieper, 21

I looked into it a little bit more. His name was Derek Kieper, 21. He was a junior at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has a Four-Point-Oh grade point average. He had five majors: Economics, history, sociology, psychology, and political science. He wrote for the school newspaper, the Daily Nebraskan. He was right of center on political issues and sounds like pretty outspoken on campus.

On September Seventeenth of ought-four he published an opinion piece titled “Individual rights buckle under seat belt laws“

In the opinion piece he wrote, in part: (The full text can be found at The Daily Nebraskan)
I’m from the school of thought where everyone should have the right to do as they please as long as they are not infringing on the rights of other people. This comes from the political philosophy that inspired our founders and freedoms.

The duty of government is nothing more than to make sure everyone’s rights are protected and not infringed upon. Uncle Sam is not here to regulate every facet of life no matter the consequences.

No law, or set of laws, has made the government more intrusive and ridiculous than seat belt legislation. Nothing is a bigger affront to the ideas of freedom, liberty, yada, yada, yada. Whether you are a pinko liberal or a right-wing whack job, there are plenty of reasons for just saying to hell with seat belt laws.

As laws become increasingly strict for seat belts, fewer people will respond positively by buckling up in response to the laws. There seems to be a die-hard group of non-wearers out there who simply do not wish to buckle up no matter what the government does. I belong to this group.

What frightens me more about safety belt laws is the intrusion they represent to Americans. Democrats should take notice. Choice is an important aspect of freedom – choice to do as I see fit with my body and being.

Yet, the government has decided that I do not have the choice to drive around without my seat belt. And if I want to be the jerk that flirts with death and rides around with my seat belt off, I should be able to do that, too.

He included stuff about the tax money that was being used make this law happen, and stuff about states’ rights. I mainly focused on his personal choice issues as written. I know it is good to wear a seat belt and that it will save lives. Many of the deaths due to lack of seatbelts come from bodies hitting the windshield and others come from being partially ejected and then the car lands on top of you. Some others come from being thrown free and sailing head first into a rock or a tree or a telephone poll or another car or something else.

I usually wear a seatbelt. The only time I leave it off is when I go from the store to my house on the backroad where I am the only one driving. But, the point is should the government FORCE people to wear seatbelts. As Aaron, my old neighbor said, “what if that my way of seeking thrills? Some people bungee jump, I don’t wear a seatbelt.” It is not the job of the government to save people from themselves. That was never a function of government, nor should it be.

So, I agree with Derek that it should be personal freedom to wear or not to wear. I choose to wear. He chooses not to wear.

On January fourth of ought-five Derek was riding in a Ford Explorer with two friends. They were buckled up, he wasn’t.

It was about Three o’clock am when the Ford Explorer hit a spot of ice, skidded off Interstate Eighty just outside of Lincoln and rolled several times, throwing Derek out of the car. The other people in the car lived.

Pretty interesting.

Other than that, I am waiting to hear back whether my stuff will have any bugs or not. So I went home at the end of the day. We had pizza for dinner at home. I watched my TV shows before finding my way to bed.