[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by Christien

Erm, isn't it LACK of regulation over the legal "industry" that's led to ambulance chasing? That's why so many people are clamouring for tort reform.

I'm a bit on the fence about the safety differences between my generation (tail end of Gen-X/very beginning of Gen-Y, born in 1975) and my kids' generation. Yeah, we used to ride our bikes without helmets (or in my case skateboard, with no helmet or pads) and mom and dad used to toss us in the back of the car to drive to Florida with no seatbelts and a pile of games, and we all turned out fine.

But part of that is because the kids that didn't turn out fine aren't here to tell their stories. Infant/child deaths and injuries in car crashes have dropped significantly over the last few decades, due to improved safety features, and the increased age, height and weight limits for no child/booster seats. Closed head injuries from bicycling, etc are way down due to the increased use of helmets. So those regulations are indeed making a difference. A huge difference.

We're considering driving to Florida this winter, rather than flying. We're trying to come up with ways of keeping our kids happy over the 22-hour drive. Used to be you toss them in the back with games, books, play-doh, snacks, whatever, and they were happy. But nowadays there are 10x as many cars on the road, which means 10x as many drunks, kids texting, etc etc and I'm just not comfortable with my kids in the back of the minivan playing while driving 60mph. It's a different world than it was when I was a kid.

I am pretty much disgusted with all of the above. I choose to wear a helmet when I ride a motorcycle, but I HATE the idea that not wearing one could get me a ticket in some states. While some legislation is needed in society, IMO we have gone too far with it.... This country was great because of it's freedom..... Ever increasing legislation is making freedom a thing of the past.... I don't like it one bit.