Road safety should not be compromised by the clothing preferences of the obese

Thank you, Brian. I look forward to a quality debate. 1. Generalization My opponent makes a hasty generalization against obese people. There is no truth in the theory that obese people cannot walk very quickly. There are different levels of obesity, and different people whom these levels apply to. Some obese people are rather energetic. Unless Pro can prove that it is reasonable to generalize obese people this way, his disputation of the abilities of obese people should be dropped. 2. Not only the obese I wish to add that there are too many people who cannot cross the road quickly. My personal experience does not suggest that obese people are even the majority. It is far easier and more correct to generalize the elderly in this case. Many of them, especially old ladies, walk fairly slowly over the road. Children who are obsessed with using their cell phones also tend to walk not only slowly across the world, but also by being distracted. The physically disabled might also be prone to walking slowly across the world. Should we force all of these people to wear visibility vests? If so, how do we distinguish between the levels of disability in order for us to decide who should wear what? 3. Personal responsibility How to drive safely is a personal responsibility of yours. Other people should not be held accountable for the fact that you might not be able to figure out how quickly they can cross the road. Certain places are filled with drunk people. If you wish to pass by, then you have a personal responsibility to figure out how fast you should walk amongst all these people in order not to collide with them. If you are near a schoolyard, it is not a burden for the children to figure out how visible they should be to you or how fast you should walk. You, knowing that the place you enter is filled with children, are to take responsibility. Unless you are forced to drive, you simply have the moral responsibility in your own hands. It is not for the obese to display themselves clearly to you, because even with visibility vests, there is no guarantee that you will see them, or that you will slow down if you actually do see them. 4. Statistics I admit that obese people are more likely to die in a car crash, which seems to be a confirmed fact by various studies. "People who are obese but not morbidly obese (and so have a BMI of between 35 and 39) are about 20% more likely to die in a car crash than someone of average weight."[1] However, it does not help my opponent's case in this debate. While obese people are more likely to die in an auto crash, the studies point toward the obese people who drive, not the obese people who are hit by other cars. The scenarios are dissimilar. Nonetheless, the same source mentions that underweight people should not ignore these studies either. 5. Functionality of the visibility vest You cannot guarantee that the visibility vest will make a driver more aware of the potential dangers of not slowing down enough to avoid colliding with an obese person. Key questions should be asked: what if the driver has a narrow sight? What if the driver has a slow response time due to fatigue? What if the driver is intoxicated? It is hard to determine how well a visibility vest will work. Road workers wear them, but there is more in what makes you pay attention to them than mere visibility vests. The loud sounds of their machines and their big vehicles are partially contributing to noticing them. Obese people are more visible and the elderly and the children. I do not think Pro disputes that. The risk of crashing into those people is therefore higher. Due to this, it is unreasonable to force obese people only to wear specific clothes, especially when the main responsibility belongs to the drivers. Furthermore, I am fairly confident in saying that during nighttime, you risk colliding with a black person more than you risk colliding with an obese person at random times. For one, there are more (any weight) black people than obese people of any color. Two, it can be hard to see dark color during night, which makes it easier to hit a road-crossing black person. Do you want to force black people to wear specific clothes during nighttime? 6. Discrimination Obese people should have the same rights as other people, unless their usage of rights harm others. It is highly discriminatory to impose something on obese people only, because there is no logical basis for it. If you want to minimize dangers for the drivers, then targeting obese people only, or obese people mainly, is illogical. Moreover, how do you distinguish between people? Surely, a person with a BMI of 35 is most probably considered obese by most people. But if the BMI is significantly lower, the person might look obese, but not necessarily be so. Would a law on targeting obese people not be very vague and subjective, besides being discriminatory and unnecessary? To conclude, obese people should not be treated differently in this manner, and there is no need for a law that violates personal freedom in such an unnecessary way. If Pro can give statistics or studies that help his case, rather than only giving his own opinion, I would be delighted to analyze them. | Reference | [1] http://hubpages.com...