Thread by @kazweida

I know people like to compare requiring licensing or seatbelts on roadways to requiring masks.

But those comparisons don’t convey the crux of the problem.

If you crash without your seatbelt, the person who gets hurt by your negligence is you.

Not so with masks.
(THREAD)

(2) Your refusal to wear a mask makes my mask less effective at preventing infection.

It would be like if your failure to wear a seatbelt exposed me to a greater risk of death.

I think the best metaphor for mask wearing if we want to talk motor vehicle laws is speeding.

(3) We have speed limits most places but especially in residential areas. Why?

We’ve decided slowing down prevents fatal accidents for everyone.

Your right to go the speed you want even if it’s risky is overridden by public safety.

(4) When you speed you’re no longer placing just yourself at risk. Whoever you happen to hit in a collision also has a greater chance of dying or injury.

Even if they wear their seatbelts.
And were following the speed limit.

Your actions imposed a risk they didn’t agree to take

(5) This is why we have laws. To decide when someone’s individual choices cause harm to the greater good.

So if you speed and cause an accident that results in death, you’ll usually lose more than your license.

You’ll get charged with negligent homicide or manslaughter.

(6) I can still wear a mask in public like I wear a seatbelt in a car.

But your choice to go maskless exposes me to a risk that I am attempting to mitigate in good faith. You are causing harm to the greater good.

And a sane society would never tolerate it. I wonder why we do.

And yes, as many of you have commented, the drunk driving comparison works too.