REMEMBER SEAT BELT LAWS?

I was living in NY state when mandatory use of seat belts was made a law and I recall that some people thought this was a terrible infringement on their freedom. I don't trust my memory so I used LexisNexis to search for some reports of this resentment and came up with this:

The Associated Press
October 19, 1994, Wednesday, PM cycle
Correction Appended
Seat Belt Foes Fight for Motoring Freedom in Three States
BYLINE: By ARLENE LEVINSON, Associated Press Writer
SECTION: Political News
LENGTH: 467 words

For much of motoring America, sitting in a moving car without a seat belt feels like driving undressed. But for some people in three states with seat belt laws on Nov. 8 ballots, that mundane strap is an un-American shackle on freedom.

"Everyone, plain and simple, is very sick and tired of government control," said Ed Netterberg of Sturgis, S.D. "South Dakota's seat belt law is an insult to free-thinking people."

I think this faux sense of freedom is behind some of the opposition to health care reform.