BrianGarst.com

When it comes to mandatory seat belts, the choices are clear. There is no doubt that mandatory seat belt laws save lives. It is equally clear that such laws are an intrusion upon personal freedom. The choice is clear; either you believe in personal freedom or you believe in nanny-state protections. A vast majority of the country has chosen nanny-statism, while New Hampshire stands alone as the only state that places freedom above protecting citizens from themselves. Which is fitting, since their state motto is “Live Free or Die”

When New Hampshire state Senator Robert Letourneau drives his Oldsmobile Aurora 31 miles from his home in Derry to the capitol in Concord, he wears a seat belt.

That didn’t stop the 64-year-old Republican from voting today against a bill that would require him and every other motorist in the Granite State to buckle up.

“It’s none of the government’s business what I do in my car,” said Letourneau, the transportation committee chairman. “The meaning behind our state motto, `Live Free or Die,’ is freedom.”

New Hampshire is the only U.S. state that doesn’t have a law requiring motorists 18 and older to wear seat belts. Opponents have beaten back numerous attempts to enact a law and prevailed again today, when the 24-member Senate voted 16-8 against a bill the House of Representatives passed on April 5.

Not everyone in the state legislature is on-board, however, as evidenced by this confused statement:

Supporters of the bill said it doesn’t violate the spirit of “Live Free or Die.”

“I always thought the really active verb in this was `live,”’ said state Senator Peter Burling, a Democrat from Cornish.

I can only assume state Senator Peter Burling is a product of government education. Is “Live Free or Die” really so complicated to understand?