A recent letter to the editor in the Pioneer Press decried the proposed seatbelt law in Minnesota that would allow police to ticket someone solely on the grounds of not wearing a seatbelt as a grave assault on our liberty. The problem with this "freedom from restraint" is it doesn't take into account the responsibilities that come with freedom.
When you are in an accident and have been injured because you weren't wearing a seatbelt (or a helmet) or otherwise behaving irresponsibly, you contribute to increased costs for the rest of us whether they be in the form of increased insurance rates or higher taxes to pay for indigent care. Further, if your expression of "freedom" leaves you paralyzed or otherwise unable to care for yourself in a typical manner, you place a burden on social services that we all have to pay for.
I hardly think that soldiers and patriots struggled and died so you could be free to be as irresponsible and selfish without having to pay the full price of your actions.