Derek Kieper

[ERU]

Who is Derek Kieper? I hear you ask.

Derek Kieper was a college student that felt very strongly about a lot of things, in particular he felt very strongly agains the policy of forcing people to wear seatbelts. In fact He wrote an article on it. You can read about it HERE

I'll quote a few sections from the article.

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.

Ok! lets hear these reasons mister!

he government budgets $13.4 million to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through the U.S. Department of Transportation for educating the public about safety belt laws.

ooh lots of money....

The government also dispenses $25 million in grants to local law enforcement to increase the usage rate of seat belts. Even the Lincoln Police Department got a grant to help enforce the safety belt laws – lucky us.

even more money....

Most ridiculous, though, is the $100 million doled out to states that have primary seat belt laws – these are the laws that say you can be pulled over for simply not wearing your seat belt.

getting expensive....

If one is doing the math, that is more than $138 million spent on seat belt laws.

Your right, that is a lot!

But surely all this money is well spent right? it does save lives right?

But the kicker is this: It is estimated, by researchers for Congress, that only 6,100 lives are saved per year because of new seat belt wearers.

Oh ok... only 6,100 lives...hardly seems worth it then

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.

RIGHT ON BROTHER!!`1

You can read the rest yourself, he carries on with a rant about the fact that if he chooses to, and again I quote, "flirt with death and ride around with my seat belt off, I should be able to do that"

First thing is he doesnt back up his "facts" about spending, neither does he consider the cost of the aftermath when these people do crash or the emotional toll on those involved, relatives, passengers etc. What if he's sat in the back of a car being a rebel not wearing his seatbelt, the car crashes he kills the person in front....still it's ok, it's his right to choose to not wear it?

Chances are he would change his tune if he was ever involved in an accident whilst not wearing his seatbelt.......

Oh, hang on, WHAT'S THIS?

Kieper, a 21-year-old senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, died early Tuesday morning when the Ford Explorer he was a passenger in travelled off an icy section of Interstate 80 and rolled several times in a ditch. Kieper, who was riding in the back seat of the Explorer, was ejected from the vehicle.

"He was a bright young boy, a 4.0," Paul Kieper said. "He loved to be silly. He loved to debate."

Derek, who was thrown from the vehicle, was not wearing a seat belt, Lefler said. He said Havermann and Uphoff were wearing seat belts at the time.

Erica Rogers, opinion page editor at the Daily Nebraskan, said Derek's brains and intensity would be missed. Kieper and Rogers had lively political debates, she said.

Most will say if his brains were gonna be missed that much she could have gone and scraped some off the road. And what a f**knut, seems he was well liked, popular etc, didnt take these people into account when he chose not to wear his belt did he. I have worte this as a disgusted observer - What's your opinion???

[mr_anderson187]

bit of a tard imho


... nuf said

[Rave]

Knob.

Rich :¬)

[ERU]

Here's a guy that didn't:
http://media.davesdaily.com/05-noseatbelt3.wmv

[smtkr]

Man, this Kieper sounds exactly like two of my best friends. These guys happen to be brothers. You would really get a chuckle if you heard them bitch about the sound their cars make when they don't buckle up. In fact, the noise actually annoys them to the point where they wear their belts. To whomever had the idea for the most annoying noise in the world (for unbuckled passengers), thank you. The noise annoys me so much that I wear my seatbelt even when I'm just moving my car around in the driveway.

[schmunk]

What a tit (him, that is)

[EvilMunky]

muppppet

[0iD]

He died for what he believed in. Bless him.

[Stewart]

Come on now, have some respect, the lads dead. You don't gloat or make light of that, no matter the reason.

[Spunkey]

if he'd seen the grief hes caused his family and friends he probably wouldnt have thought twice about wearing his seatbelt. Its the exact same 'i'm in a free country i'll do whatever the hell i like' mentality thats keeping gun culture alive in the states as well, and it really is stupid.

Similarly, i think it was the NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt (could be wrong) who was always opposed the the use of the HANS device while racing. It was designed to prevent whiplash/broken necks by being placed over the drivers shoulders, with tethers attached to the helmet. He raced for a year or so without it. He even campaigned against it as it took away the danger and excitement from the sport.
All until one race in 2001 when he crashed heavily into the outside wall and was killed. If he had been wearing the HANS doctors said he probably would have survived.
After that the HANS was made mandatory in most Racing series, including Formula 1.

People can shout till they're blue in the face, but its not until someone dies that people start listening.

[shiato storm]

Come on now, have some respect, the lads dead. You don't gloat or make light of that, no matter the reason.

although I respect someone for dying for what they believe in, not wearing a seatbelt isn't an intelligent thing to do...ok, so you may be the most careful driver in the world EVER but it only takes one moron to drive like a prat and hit you and then SPLAT...'strawberry jam'...thus it pays to actually wear a seatbelt regardless of whether the govenment says so or not. I guess if they didn't make a fuss then you'd still see people wearing them...

[Stewart]

although I respect someone for dying for what they believe in, not wearing a seatbelt isn't an intelligent thing to do...ok, so you may be the most careful driver in the world EVER but it only takes one moron to drive like a prat and hit you and then SPLAT...'strawberry jam'...thus it pays to actually wear a seatbelt regardless of whether the govenment says so or not. I guess if they didn't make a fuss then you'd still see people wearing them...

I'm not interested who he was, how he died or whatever, I'm just saying - he's dead, killed in a car crash. Have a touch of respect at least.

This thread seems to be an 'randomly insult this bloke who just got killed' thread. Bad taste?

[Rave]

Vaul, the guy might be dead but that doesn't mean he wasn't an idiot when he was alive. Gloat or make light- no, I suppose not. Strongly criticise- yes. If the US government spends $138m to save 6100 lives by encouraging seatbelt wearing, then that is the bargain of the century- it works out to about $22000 a life. The costs incurred from any death on the roads are enormous- ambulances, coroners, policemen, salvage operators and road repair men are all expensive to employ. I once read an estimate that ever death on British roads costs the taxpayer £600,000 all in. If people want to endanger themselves then I guess that's fine, but don't risk killing yourself in such a way that you'll make the country a lot poorer as a result.

As a historical footnote, the 3-point belt was invented by Volvo. Seeing how enormously effective it was at reducing casualties in road accidents, they made the design available to any other car company to use for free despite holding the patent. Pretty good of them IMO.

Rich :¬)

[0iD]

Come on now, have some respect, the lads dead. You don't gloat or make light of that, no matter the reason.

OK, I apologise for my flippant remark, but the guy was killed by what amounted to his own, (however misguided imo) beliefs.

[Swafe]

its his own fault, he should have wore it, it was for his safety

on the flipside tho, he is right in a way - its his life, if he wanted to play ball with it, he should be allowed

[mr_anderson187]

on the flipside tho, he is right in a way - its his life, if he wanted to play ball with it, he should be allowed

fair point,

but if he wanted to play with his own life give him a revolver and one bullet and let him play russian roulette, not let him loose in a car where he can harm others by not wearinga belt