Unbelievable

[jspring0308]

Yesterday I was driving home on a 35mph road. A Cadillac Escalade pulled in front of me (totally fine, lots of room) but as they did I noticed the male passenger had a young child (not older then 2) sitting on his lap. O.K. I realize I live in po-dunk South Carolina but seriously people it's still illegal! I mean these people in the SUV might not know all the details of car seat safety and erf etc. but I know they know that driving with a child on your lap is against the law!

So fast forward to today. My DH and I were stuck in traffic b/c of a middle of the day head on collision and one of the vehicles involved was a Cadillac Escalade! Not the same color but I instantly thought of the child from yesterday and it made me instantly woozy. The road today had a max. speed of 45mph but I'm guessing they were going slower b/c there was a lot of traffic and the SUV was totaled; front end totally smashed with all the airbags deployed and broken windows. Simply horrifying, both situations!

[berry987]

That is really disturbing. I see it a lot here, too, in the Washington, DC area. It completely baffles me. The people who do this probably love their children - why on earth do they put them at such risk? It's the leading cause of death among children!

[juju's mom]

So sad. We see it here too in Boston.

[nerdymom]

wow I have never seen that but wow, how negligent. I would call the police. Not 911 but the local county office. That is really too serious not to report.

[boysmom2]

I've seen it - several of DH's aunts and uncles don't use car seats/boosters/seatbelts for their kids. I even had my brother (who was a cop at the time) talk to them and tell them about some of the gruesome accidents he's responded to, but no change. And I know these people love their children. I just don't get it.

[jspring0308]

I thought about calling police but A. I would have had to remember the plate # long enough to pull over safely (and I have serious sleep-deprived-mommy-brain) B. I'd call and report it but I assure you there aren't great enough funds for the police dept. to track the car down or make a home visit and honestly I've seen police driving in their official vehicles without seat belts so I'm not sure car safety is high on anyones list around here! It is truly shocking, I feel like I'm in a third world country in regards to car safety sometimes.

[Katsmamajama]

Insanity. I can't imagine why some people do that, regardless.

[LittleBlessings]

that is so sad

[2lilsweetfoxes]

They probably remember their childhood memories of sitting in their parents' lap to "help drive" and want to give their child a similar memory.

(one of those--well, my parents did it with me and I'm fine)

[Evergreen]

My best friend is a large SUV driver. She thinks that because her car is so large and therefore obviously safe she is taking her 6 year old out of his booster when he starts school. Maybe they have the same - larger vehicle= no problem attitude.

[Caneel]

The other day, I saw a pick-up truck pull out onto a major 4 lane road (lots of red lights, turning lanes running thru a 5 mile long commercial area) with a little boy of about 4 kneeling on the center consol between a man and a woman.

I could tell he was kneeling on the center consol because my husband has the same model truck, meaning I know the kid wasn't in a seat.

Unfortunately, I see things like this regularly. I live in an area where a good chunk of the population willfully resists government telling them how they should live their lives.

[vbactivist]

Originally Posted by Caneel

The other day, I saw a pick-up truck pull out onto a major 4 lane road (lots of red lights, turning lanes running thru a 5 mile long commercial area) with a little boy of about 4 kneeling on the center consol between a man and a woman.

I could tell he was kneeling on the center consol because my husband has the same model truck, meaning I know the kid wasn't in a seat.

Unfortunately, I see things like this regularly. I live in an area where a good chunk of the population willfully resists government telling them how they should live their lives.

Where do you live? Sounds like a great place to be.

[chirp]

Originally Posted by Caneel

The other day, I saw a pick-up truck pull out onto a major 4 lane road (lots of red lights, turning lanes running thru a 5 mile long commercial area) with a little boy of about 4 kneeling on the center consol between a man and a woman.

I could tell he was kneeling on the center consol because my husband has the same model truck, meaning I know the kid wasn't in a seat.

Unfortunately, I see things like this regularly. I live in an area where a good chunk of the population willfully resists government telling them how they should live their lives.

i'm with vbactivist on this one. sounds like a great place to live!!!

of course, not concerning people disregarding children's safety...but as pposts suggest--that happens everywhere. willfull resistance though? that's hard to come by!!

to add to the the op...i live in an area where most of the people are from Mexico (immigrants...and their first generation children). many of them do not use carseats regularly. and most do not use carseats for children over the age of 2(? or so?). i'm not sure they even know it's the law.

[jeminijad]

Originally Posted by chirp

i'm with vbactivist on this one. sounds like a great place to live!!!

of course, not concerning people disregarding children's safety...but as pposts suggest--that happens everywhere. willfull resistance though? that's hard to come by!!

.

Not to threadjack too much but I struggle with this. I feel our liberties being taken away day by day- our founding fathers never meant for us to be so deep in legislation controlling our everyday choices- and yet I'm a car seat safety fanatic and get all heated when I see scenarios like the OP's!

[butterfly_mommy]

I saw this yesterday as we were driving home on highway 401 (a major provincial highway) were the limit is 100 KPH (62 MPH) and I saw a mini van from Quebec pass us at 120 KPH (75 MPH) with a child sitting on the lap of someone in the second row. I was trying to get their license plate # to call the police but we couldn't catch up to them. So sad when people make really unsafe choices for their children.

[Caneel]

Originally Posted by chirp

i'm with vbactivist on this one. sounds like a great place to live!!!

of course, not concerning people disregarding children's safety...but as pposts suggest--that happens everywhere. willfull resistance though? that's hard to come by!!

Willful resistance might have been too strong of a statement but plenty of people are of the "keep government out of my church, off my guns, and out of my family" mindset.

I ment willful resistance in the sense that they refuse to wear seatbelts and "let the cops try to give me a ticket" and "if I want to shoot deer on my land out of season, that is my right" Driving down the road drinking a beer, that time of thing.

Oh, and refusing to comply with sewage disposal regulations. That is a biggie right now. Outhouses are poluting the neighboring wells and people are sitting in county jail for refusing to put in holding tanks.

[Serenyd]

My DP and I were driving down the road and saw a pickup truck with two little girls in the back, looked about 3 & 4 yrs old. We reported the license # but didn't get much of response, and the next week, I saw them again!!! Argh!

[Serenyd]

Originally Posted by 2lilsweetfoxes

They probably remember their childhood memories of sitting in their parents' lap to "help drive" and want to give their child a similar memory.

(one of those--well, my parents did it with me and I'm fine)

Yeah, my dad did that with me too - IN THE DRIVEWAY!!! and it was way cool without endangering my life.

[Kim Allen]

We live in a really small rural town and I see this almost everyday. The police dont seem to do anything about it. County cops are the worse. If I need anything done I will definantly call Highway Patrol around here. The most unbelivable one was a woman (who drives very recklessly) breastfeeding a newborn while driving. I see her time to time and she still does this and the baby is probably close to a yr old now. She has other children who do not ride in carseats and are usually seen standing up walking around in there minivan while she is doing this. She has been pulled over before but I guess it does not mean anything to her.

[jspring0308]

But even if you're driving safely [I]anything can happen[I]! That's why people are so much safer if restrained b/c you never know what or when something will happen.

Yeah, my Dad used to let me sit on his lap on our gravel road leading up to our house when I was about 6ish but not when I was 2 b/c I wouldn't have remembered it anyway and I'm fine but it was still way more dangerous then me sitting next to him in a seat belt and I haven't done that w/my 6 yo b/c we don't live on an barely-traveled back road!

All of these posts are really shocking to me b/c it really only takes a little common sense but I guess people don't think of their cars as being large dangerous killing machines like I do!