Vaccines are scary to many people because the science behind them is complicated. And social-media misinformation abounds. To simplify things, here is an analogy.

Consider the seatbelt. It has been proven to save lives and reduce injuries in car accidents. Cars used to not have them, and lots of people died in accidents. Now all cars do and wearing them is legally required.

Can it save you in every single possible crash situation? I don’t want to wear it unless you can guarantee it’s 100 per cent effective. No. If you are going too fast or hit by another larger vehicle (ie, there are underlying conditions) you might still die — but your death would be certain if you weren’t wearing your seatbelt. Wearing a seatbelt can’t stop you from injury, but it will greatly lessen injuries you might sustain. A seatbelt bruising your ribs is way better than flying through your windshield and landing 50 feet from your car in a crash.

Is it harmful if you don’t get in a crash? Not really — inconvenient, maybe, and slightly discomforting, perhaps. In freakishly rare cases, someone might have an allergic reaction to the seatbelt’s material, but properly worn you’ll be OK.

But what about this new seatbelt in my new car? It has not been tried before! It’s different from older seatbelts! Bro…it’s a seatbelt. The concept has been around for a long time; this is just the new version.

Government telling me I have to wear a seatbelt is hegemonic control! Making me sheeple. Taking my freedom! Yes it’s government control — in a good way. Governments have a basic duty to protect the people who created them. Governing has always been trying to strike a balance between natural/individual rights and public good and safety.

It’s my body. I should be able to decide if I want to wear a seatbelt or not. Well, even though legally required, some people choose not to wear seatbelts. And they suffer more injury and death as a result. And by letting those around them also not wear seatbelts, they also hurt them more when they crash.

Does wearing a seatbelt prevent you from crashing? No. You can still get into a crash (crash into others) if you’re wearing a seatbelt, causing them harm. But hopefully they’re wearing seatbelts, too.

God did not make me with a seatbelt already part of my body. They are unnatural. God also did not make cars or the road system — humans (whom God made) did. But He gave humans reason to be safe as well as creative and intends for us to help ourselves using our reason. Consider: does God cause car crashes?

Lockdowns punish seatbelt drivers along with the reckless fast bikers and non-seatbelt wearers. It’s unfair! True, but if there is no motor traffic, there correspondingly will be no crashes and thus no deaths. And maybe during the week when everyone is off the road, more people will see the wisdom of wearing seatbelts (get them installed in their cars, so to speak).

For the economic arguments:

1, Treating lots of non-seatbelt-wearing crash victims is really expensive and which everyone indirectly pays for

2, It costs you nothing to wear a seatbelt

3, No one will want to come to a destination with a bunch of reckless non-seatbelt wearers, no matter how beautiful it is

Wearing a seatbelt is an individual behavioural choice, but also part of a collective community commitment to make it a norm, an expected action we model for each other and our children. There is little harm, great gain, and wide acceptance of a legal requirement to wear them since former transport minister Ewart Brown introduced it in 2002. Was it a government conspiracy that stripped you of your rights? No. Is the policy tied to a specific party/government (United Bermuda Party, Progressive Labour Party, One Bermuda Alliance)? No. Did it save lives and reduce injuries? Yes. Was it a good public health measure? Yes.

So, Please Buckle Up, Bermuda!

For a more nuanced version of the above, see Alberto Giubilini & Julian Savulescu, Vaccination, Risks, and Freedom: The Seat Belt Analogy, Public Health Ethics, Volume 12, Issue 3, November 2019, Pages 237–249.

• Michael Jarvis, PhD, studies and teaches Bermudian, Maritime, Atlantic and Digital history and archaeology at the University of Rochester. He is author of In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (2010) and the forthcoming Isle of Devils, Isle of Saints: An Atlantic History of Bermuda, 1609-1684