I believe that *some* people are perfectly capable of behaving in a reasonable fashion without having to be forced to.
But you would have to be an absolute moron to think that *all* people can. Or even *most* people.
And, I believe a certain percentage of people are not only unable to do so, but are also complete sociopaths and will absolutely take advantage of any and all opportunities to take advantage of people and take advantage of loose rules to in order to hurt people.
Which is why we need strong rules. The rules are NOT there for the people that don't need them.