OSNews

I have a libertarian streak too, but sometimes laws SHOULD be passed to protect people from themselves. I live in the US, and remember when my state passed the mandatory seatbelt law, and later passed the mandatory helmet law for motorcycles.

I remember that before the seatbelt law was passed, nobody wore seatbelts. None of my family did, none of our acquaintances did, nobody did (except for and extreme few, which were actually mocked for it. :p) After the seatbelt law was passed, within about a year, everyone was wearing seatbelts. And health care costs dropped significantly.

As for the motorcycle helmet law, again practices changed, as after the law was passed, every motorcyclist wore helmets, whereas before that only half did. I won't say that health care costs dropped that much, since 1.) only a small percentage of folks ride motorcycles so overall healthcare costs wouldn't be affected that much, and 2.) before the seatbelt law was passed, motorcycle accidents typically resulted in death, so it could be that healthcare costs actually increased since more folks live through their injuries and are treated for those injuries. But certainly the number of motorcycle deaths significantly decreased.