My wife and I recently got tickets for not wearing our seatbelts in Hawaii. Don't we have a constitutional right to refuse individual personal health care devices? Marc

49 states plus the District of Columbia have mandatory seat belt laws. The lone exception is New Hampshire. Attempts to have mandatory seat belt laws declared unconstitutional have been argued on several grounds: as a violation of individual liberty; as a prior restraint on the right to determine one's own personal safety and health care standards; on Due Process grounds; and as violative of the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of the right to be secure in one's person. None have met with success. First, the privacy rights that courts recognize as deserving of heightened constitutional protection include those pertaining to marriage, procreation, child rearing, education or family. Seat belt laws do not fall within this group. Second, the ability to drive on a public street or highway is considered an entitlement, not a right. It is subject to reasonable regulation under the state's police power. "Police power" refers to a legislature's inherent authority to pass laws that promote the public health, safety, and welfare. Seat belt laws have been upheld as a valid exercise of this power. In other words, as you learned in Hawaii, "click it or ticket."