Wrong headed thinking

So. I got into a little heated argument with my final caller about kids and seatbelts and carseats. His argument goes like this: Parents, not the state, should be responsible for kids, so a law mandating seatbelts is wrong.

Sounds good, sorta...

I'll tell you why this guy is wrong. The ONLY reason we have laws -- in most cases -- is because of the inadequacies of people. Would we need burglary laws if people didn't steal? Would we need violent crime laws if people weren't violence prone?

The reason we need child seatbelt and safety seat laws is because some parents, candidly, are stupid and neglectful. I'd have my kids in a safety restraint anyway, but when I see parents driving along the freeway with their small children roaming around the car freely, I cringe. These parents should be punished and the only way to do that is to pass a law.

Enough said.