Saturday, February 23, 2008

I Think I'll Let That Fleeting Thought Fade Now

I know good and well, I'm not the only one that gets irritated with nanny-state micro-managing of life. And as much as I can appreciate certain laws that are "good for me," I simply obey them to a more subtle and latent soundtrack of my own, resentful composition.

I can't tell you how many times I've actually ruminated on selling a joke shirt that has a seatbelt facade already attached. Sure, it would look stupid, but the humor of course, is in the plausibility of going to more trouble to get out of something, than just actually complying and sparing the wear and tear on one's self.

All of that came to a screeching halt (no pun intended) today for me, when I read about 39-year-old Ivan Segedin, whose previous and respective 32-seperate fines for not wearing his seatbelt did not in anyway dampen his ingenuity.

Unfortunately, necessity was the mother of invention. Too bad he only ended up inventing his own funeral:

Examination of his car found that, though it was fitted with proper seatbelts, an additional belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seatbelt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder, Ms Nagara said.

Presumably this was to create the illusion to a passing motorist or police officer that a seatbelt was being worn when it was not.

Mr Segedin's car had an expired warrant, was full of rust, and an autopsy blood test showed he had taken methamphetamine and cannabis. But Ms Nagara said not wearing a seatbelt was the one variable that made the difference between life and death. "He died when quite possibly he need not have."


Memo to self: That mannequin I bought for the carpool lane is going back, too.

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