EDITOR
Paula Lavigne
OPINION
EDITOR
Jessica Kennedy
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Erin Gibson
Joshua Gillin
Jeff Randall
Julie Sobczyk
Ryan Soderlin
i
Our
VIEW
Buckle up
for safety
Sole crash survivor
was wearing seat belt
This weekend, four adults and one child
were killed in a traffic accident in Nebraska
City. A married couple from Anchorage,
Alaska, were in the pickup that collided with a
station wagon in which three men and the 4
year-old were riding.
When the vehicles collided, all four station
wagon passengers and the man in the pickup
were thrown from the vehicles. They all died as
a result of their injuries.
The only survivor was the woman from
Anchorage.
She was only one wearing her seat belt.
Seat belts, while they can be slightly incon
venient and uncomfortable, save lives. They
are the easiest way to safeguard yourself in an
accident.
u uik.cs omy a seconu 10 puu me oeu across
your chest and lap. It takes only a second to
adjust the belt to your comfort level. It takes
only a second to better ensure your chances of
surviving an accident.
Not only is buckling up a measure of safe
ty, it’s also Nebraska’s law. If you are pulled
over for another infraction and you aren’t
buckled up, and you can be ticketed and fined
$21.
That amount seems a small price to pay to
save your life.
Using seat belts could also make you a
safer driver. By realizing that vehicles can be
dangerous, and buckling up, you can recognize
your own need to be a safer driver.
Of course, there are times when seat belts
don’t work. Traffic accidents kill, and some
times are so severe that the belt won’t help.
So many people reason, “I won’t wear my
seat belt, because I want to be able to get out of
the car in case of an accident.”
They are the fools. More often than not,
seat belts prevent drivers and passengers from
flying out of the car in a collision.
Instead of being trapped, where rescue
workers can cut them out, they’re lying dead on
the pavement after being thrown 30 yards.
But seat belts are the number one means of
protections we have as drivers. People speed.
People run red lights. People don’t look both
ways when approaching an intersection.
And because we can’t always rely on the
other driver to be as safe as we are, we must
rely on ourselves for protection.
This weekend, a 4-year-old boy lost his life.
Four adults with families andfriends and lives
died, too. Those lives may have been saved had
they only been strapped in.
Seat belts saved one woman on a Nebraska
road this weekend, and countless others each year.
Next time you’re ready to hit the road, take
a second to think about what could happen.
You never know when an accident is waiting to
happened. In the time it takes to pop in a com
pact disc or tune in the radio station, you could
take a small step to ensure a safe ride to your
destination.
Buckle up.
UMHNUCV
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Fall 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do
not necessarily reflect the views of me
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, its
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Of ^ '
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; • Haney’s
VIEW
Smoking sissies
Pink cigs may clear air of debonair
TODD BRAUCH is a fresh
man news-editorial major
and a Daily Nebraskan
columnist.
Recently the State of Florida,
along with 39 other states, filed lawsuit
against the tobacco companies of
America for a mere $11.3 billion. Their
mission? To recover money spent treat
ing smokers.
I may be wrong, but I always
thought cigarettes were bad. I didn’t
need a surgeon general’s warning or an
anti-smoking campaign to tell me
“cancer-sticks” are unhealthy. It was
just common knowledge such as fire is
hot, moms are always annoying, and
you never find the shirt you really like
in your size.
some oi me mais mai are oemg
waged against cigarette pushers claim
that the smoker or self-portrayed victim
never had any clue that smoking 4lA
packs a day for 12 years could do any
harm. You would think that the morn
ing ritual of hacking up chunks of
phlegm the size of cue balls would be
some sort of hint
This is something my best friend
does every morning, evening and
sometimes just for fun, yet he knows if
he doesn’t quit he will die. A fact he
readily admits while smoking. It’s his
fault, he started so he has to end it.
Although it would be amazing to see
how his lung lining resembles the pot
holes on a New York street.
The real way to get people to quit
smoking is not by telling them that they
are going to die. Where’s the fim in
that? You must take a radical approach,
something that has never been tried or
even considered. I have developed that
plan. I call it “Operation Bunny
Slippers.”
Most people start smoking
because it looks cool. There’s some
thing about a person standing by a
fence post, wind blowing the delicate
strands of their hair. They glance
around and take a couple puffs of a cig.
Just calm and cool. It looks damn
good.
Imagine that same scenario, but
uie cigaieue is noi a common cigarette,
it just happens to be PINK. It just does
n’t look right. It kind of makes the stud
smoke-model look like a sissy. If you
take the glamour out of smoking it
would not be as popular.
Operation Bunny Slippers runs
like this:
The government mandates all cig
arettes sold in America to be pink. All
cigarette names would have to be
changed to fit the cigarette. Marlboro
would be Bunny Tails. Camel would be
Chickies, all other names would be
converted to all those cute little ele
ments that make Easter so nauseating.
Advertising would be the same and as
vigorous as it is now.
In turn, the government and states
back off the thousands of lawsuits
they’re trying against the tobacco com
parties.
In theory, smokers would be irri
tated and wouldn’t want to be caught
smoking something pink. Although the
deprivation may cause them to become
extremely agitated and go on a killing
spree. I would probably be the first vic
tim. Hmm ... Maybe this is not a great
idea. It’s bad. Totally wrong, do not
even read this. Cigarettes should be less
expensive. There should be smoking in
all restaurants and public buildings.
Personally I don’t care who
smokes and who doesn’t, I just don’t
want to see my tax money spent fight
ing frivolous lawsuits. The money
should be used here at home, filling
potholes. Just wait until winter, the
asphalt magically transforms into
Swiss cheese.
Terrance Robinson/DN
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