with those people who say that using seat belts is a small price to pay if it saves lives, but in a Country where such a large number of people ride motor cycles, sticking to sensible speeds would also be a small price to pay to save lives.

There are always going to be problems when people are told they must do something restrictive which they have not been doing in the past even if that restriction is for their own safety. We do not think that many Bermudians will see recent crashes and road deaths as applying to them. The attitude will be, "It will not happen to me so I do not need a seat belt.'' The trouble is that people who drive in a reasonable fashion are often gravely endangered by people who drive recklessly. We have seen that in Bermuda on a number of occasions recently and that seems to us to be especially true of cyclists. You may not be an offender but you are in danger of being knocked off the road, or at least to the ground, by some other rider.

This newspaper fought very hard for many years and against considerable opposition to get a safety helmet law for cyclists. There were all kinds of objections to compulsory helmets, many of them frivolous, ranging from ruined hairdos to personal freedom. Yet it was amazing just how quickly riders adjusted to helmets once the mandatory use law was passed.

But seat belts may be a different matter. People who are quite happy to endanger their own small children by carrying them on the front of cycles or by driving around with them simply plonked on the front seats of cars are unlikely to get the seat belt habit.

Then there is the very difficult issue of enforcement of a seat belt law.

Safety helmets are very visible, seat belts inside cars are not. The Police already have a confrontation problem when they stop people for minor offences.

We really do not think that the Police who are already faced with larger problems and with a multitude of small traffic laws to enforce need another problem which could be dealt with simply by public cooperation. The Police are better used to combat speeding and dangerous driving. If we can curtail those elements we do not need seat belts. If a seat belt law is enacted we can see the law going largely unenforced along with such things as the noise laws in this very noisy Country.