On the front-page of the Jan. 13 edition of the Bangor Daily News there was a picture of Dr. Erik Steele stretching out a long-tailed bill that he claims was the result of someone being in an automobile accident because the individual was not wearing a seat belt. He maintains, as does the governor, that this bill wouldn’t have been incurred if the person in the accident had been wearing a seat belt.

If I had been in attendance the first question I would have had for Steele would be: “What was your income last year? Because I believe if you went to the emergency room with a splinter in your finger you would have had a long-tailed bill.”

You can’t pay CEOs a half-million dollars a year, and doctors’ high salaries and not have it run into a lot of money, whether you wear a seat belt or not.

The seat belt law is just another way for the government to sock more money out of the working man. The governor is worried about seat belts, but if he doesn’t get a handle on health care it won’t matter because none of us will be able to afford a car.

Eli H. Zwicker Sr.

Brownville Junction