Freedom to Be Foolish - L.B. 496: The Mandatory Seat Belt Law
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Authors
Thomas, Jeffrey L.
Issue Date
1986
Type
Journal Article
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Abstract
INTRODUCTION|On June 5, 1985, Governor Kerrey signed Legislative Bill 496 ("L.B. 496") into law, and Nebraska joined the bandwagon of seventeen other states that have enacted mandatory seat belt laws. The intense debate on the bill involved a confrontation between those senators seeking to reduce deaths and injuries on the state's roads and those senators who, although acknowledging the law's noble objectives, nonetheless opposed the law as an improper governmental intrusion into the realm of individual decisionmaking. As enacted, the law raises the fundamental issues of the proper scope of the state's police power and the nature of the relationship between government and the individual. With similar legislation pending before other state legislatures, these issues are important not only for Nebraska, but also for the nation. This Comment examines Nebraska's mandatory seat belt law. The Comment first reviews the "means" and the "ends" of the law by surveying each provision of L.B. 496 and the evils that each was intended to remedy. Second, the Comment probes the important constitutional and public policy issues presented by so-called "selfprotective" legislation. Finally, the Comment analyzes L.B. 496 in terms of how well its provisions do or do not advance the law's objectives...
Description
Citation
19 Creighton L. Rev. 743 (1985-1986)
Publisher
Creighton University School of Law