Unbelievable - Page 2

[mesa]

Last weekend I saw a pickup towing a ski boat on a trailer, that was loaded down with about 12 kids of all ages. On the HIGHWAY.

[ashleyhaugh]

ds and i went to wendys the other day, and as i was getting him out of his seat, i noticed the truck parked next to us had a kid (3 or 4 maybe) jumping around while the 2 women were talking. not a big deal, since they were parked. we went in and got in line, and they ended up behind us. they had the little boy and a baby, maybe one at the oldest, but he looked closer to 9 or so months...

i was curious (and yes, i admit, im nosy) so when ds and i left, i peeked in the window of their truck, and they didnt have a seat in there for either kid!!!

[Spirit Dancer]

Originally Posted by Caneel

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.

This was so my family when I was growing up. My dad hated (and still does) the government in his personal life so he refuses to wear a seat belt and did not require any of us 6 kids to do so.
I do wear a seat belt and am on the strict side of the spectrum in terms of car seats but I do agree with my dad's philosophy. Like now it is a LAW that we have to wear bike helmets. I know many would agree with it but where does it stop? Like what about mandatory vaccines? I do not want my kids vaxxed but the majority think this could be a good thing. There was a recent case where the court forced a family to have chemo done on their son when they did not want too. What about forcing medical care? Where is the line? We CANNOT pick and choose. Like yes I want the in a booster till 8 law but I do not want a law saying I cannot intentionally freebirth? Right.

[KristaDJ]

I just don't get this. Do people really think that cars are safe or something? I was putting my baby in my Onbu the other day to go into a store and saw a mom and dad leaving the store with two kids, maybe 15mo and 3yo. The dad opened the car door for the 3yo (I couldn't see if there was a seat or not) and the mom opened the other door, set the baby in his FFing car seat and closed the door. Two more seconds of effort and she could have BUCKLED HIM IN!!!!!!!!!!

[major_mama11]

Originally Posted by mesa

Last weekend I saw a pickup towing a ski boat on a trailer, that was loaded down with about 12 kids of all ages. On the HIGHWAY.

:

That is INSANE. Obviously all these folks never watched the highway carnage videos that I was made to watch in Drivers' Ed.

[Keria]

Originally Posted by KristaDJ

I just don't get this. Do people really think that cars are safe or something?

No they are not they are the number one killer of children I don't get why anyone would put a kid in a car with or without a carseat.

I'm not advocating that people should not use seats, but live an let live, if you get sad about seeing a kid out of a carseat, then i suggest you don't go travel outside the US much most of the world does not have carseat laws therefor you will see almost every child unrestrained in a car I can only imagine that could send you into a deep depression.

[mysticmomma]

Originally Posted by KristaDJ

...the mom opened the other door, set the baby in his FFing car seat and closed the door. Two more seconds of effort and she could have BUCKLED HIM IN!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe (just maybe) the 3 yo would buckle the younger one. My dd often buckled her younger brother at that age.

[MelW]

Originally Posted by KristaDJ

I just don't get this. Do people really think that cars are safe or something? I was putting my baby in my Onbu the other day to go into a store and saw a mom and dad leaving the store with two kids, maybe 15mo and 3yo. The dad opened the car door for the 3yo (I couldn't see if there was a seat or not) and the mom opened the other door, set the baby in his FFing car seat and closed the door. Two more seconds of effort and she could have BUCKLED HIM IN!!!!!!!!!!

Giving her the benefit of the doubt- my husband always puts my older daughter in the car seat, then gets in the front and turns around to buckle her in. Maybe she does the same?

[Thandiwe]

That is INSANE. Obviously all these folks never watched the highway carnage videos that I was made to watch in Drivers' Ed.

Exactly.

[Ofwait]

I always load all the kids up and only after they are all in the car do I buckle them. The two little ones often from the front seat.

[SleeplessMommy]

Originally Posted by TropicalGirl

I'm not advocating that people should not use seats, but live an let live, if you get sad about seeing a kid out of a carseat, then i suggest you don't go travel outside the US much most of the world does not have carseat laws...

I have relatives by marriage in India. Most of them don't own cars and it is hard to find rear seat belts in taxis. When they visit USA, we have to remind/educate/insist on seat belt wearing.

On average, each family member drives many fewer miles than we do in the USA. My in-laws might take a taxi just a few times a year. Yet there have been many tragedies.
* A family living in California was driving late at night. Husband was tired, wife took over driving. There was an accident and the wife died, leaving behind husband and two young children. (probably no seat belt on her)
* A young couple moved back to their home city in India. They were so happy, they went (by scooter) to the bank to pick up a favorite piece of jewelry form the safe deposit box. The wife was killed in an accident. They had a young son.
* A friend's sister was divorced from her first husband after a month of marriage. A few years later she remarried, and this time she was happy and maybe even in love. A month into the marriage, her husband was on a scooter (probably no helmet) and was killed by a loose chain on a commercial truck. For cultural reasons, she is not ever expected to remarry.

In short, there are consequences to the lack of safety laws (and enforcement) in developing countries. Many of these countries have other national priorities, such as clean water or basic literacy education.

[KristaDJ]

Originally Posted by MelW

Giving her the benefit of the doubt- my husband always puts my older daughter in the car seat, then gets in the front and turns around to buckle her in. Maybe she does the same?

I've done it that way too, especially in cold weather, but no, I saw the parents get in, sit down and drive away. No one was ever buckled in and they were getting ready to pull out onto a very busy road with very limited visibility.
To the PP who said her 3yo buckled in her DS I just don't get that ??? My husband can hardly put my baby's seatbelt on right

[mysticmomma]

Originally Posted by KristaDJ

I've done it that way too, especially in cold weather, but no, I saw the parents get in, sit down and drive away. No one was ever buckled in and they were getting ready to pull out onto a very busy road with very limited visibility.
To the PP who said her 3yo buckled in her DS I just don't get that ??? My husband can hardly put my baby's seatbelt on right

Well, roll your eyes all you want, but she did it, did it well and it worked for us.

[KristaDJ]

Originally Posted by mysticmomma

Well, roll your eyes all you want, but she did it, did it well and it worked for us.

I'm sorry, I wasn't rolling my eyes at you, I was rolling them at the fact that my husband can't seem to buckle the baby in. Why are things taken in the WORST way possible? I still don't see how a three year old can buckle in a baby in a harness that is tight enough though.

[mysticmomma]

Originally Posted by KristaDJ

I'm sorry, I wasn't rolling my eyes at you, I was rolling them at the fact that my husband can't seem to buckle the baby in. Why are things taken in the WORST way possible? I still don't see how a three year old can buckle in a baby in a harness that is tight enough though.

Sorry krista, I had just gotten home from a family affair... most of the people just attack me for my ideas/actions. I was in defense mode. Bella amazingly did a great job... and obviously if she couldn't, we wouldn't continue to let her.

[jspring0308]

The last handful of posts totally drive the point home. Yes most of the world doesn't have car seat laws for a number of reasons but at the same time most of the world's people don't drive the insane amount that the average American does! And having car seat laws or not it is so incredibly easy and so much safer to use restraints regardless of law!

Like a previous post my older daughter can get my infant tight in her car seat so my gosh if she can do it I can't imagine why an adult wouldn't "bother". I really think Americans need to stop and think about their child's safety when dealing with cars and people just don't take the time to think.

[Marylizah]

Originally Posted by vbactivist

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

I'm currently visiting a country where the vast majority of the population ignores the laws, as they are rarely enforced and are considered to be inconvenient.

The result is a country with horrible air quality, polluted sea, garbage filling the streets, historic monuments stolen and even destroyed because they are in the way of the newest high-rise building, unusable beaches, devastated mountains (deforestation and mining), an absolutely sickening and heartbreaking number of traffic fatalities each year, uncontrolled urban growth turning the entire country into one big block of concrete-- I could go on, endlessly.

And it used to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

I'm all for civil liberties, but people who don't think government has a place in people's lives must not have ever visited countries where, for all intents and purposes, there is no government.

OP, in the country I'm visiting, many times per day I see children riding totally unrestrained in cars. And no one follows the traffic laws either, accidents are frequent and usually fatal. It makes me so sad. I've had to really stick to my guns to make sure DS is restrained in the seat that we brought for him to use. I don't understand this mentality AT ALL.

[Keria]

Originally Posted by jspring0308

The last handful of posts totally drive the point home. Yes most of the world doesn't have car seat laws for a number of reasons but at the same time most of the world's people don't drive the insane amount that the average American does! And having car seat laws or not it is so incredibly easy and so much safer to use restraints regardless of law!
.

That's beside the point honestly here we drive plenty mostly because to fill our tanks it cost us about 1,20$, but like i said it's besides the point, carseats are great and all of that, but seriously getting sad and alarmed about a child out of a carseat with all the huger, wars, genocide around the world, probably those children are happy and healthy, and being in a car at all it's dangerous I really don't understand how people who get all worked up about seeing a child unrestrained put their children in cars at all.

[Thandiwe]

Okay, not to hijack the thread, but there was a point brought up along the way: report the said incident. I just wondered what people consider to be smart protocol for doing such a thing. Having this post fresh on my mind last night, I saw something that disturbed me deeply. We were at our local chain grocery store, and when I came out, there was a mother and son sitting in the car next to us. It appeared obvious that she was waiting for someone, and her son, who I don't even think was barely 12 mos, was in the back seat in his car seat. When I looked at him, though, I was horrified. He was in there, but the crotch clip wasn't done up, the straps were loose and dangling on his shoulders, and the chest clip was done up and hanging around his belly button. It genuinely did not look like she just loosened him while they waited or had him 1/2 undone while they waited. All signs indicated they were getting ready to leave when the person they were waiting for got back. Maybe I was wrong, but I was horrified to think of how awfully he was placed in there if they did leave. I jotted down her license plate and we drove slowly through the parking lot waiting for them to leave, but they didn't and we had to get going. I didn't really know what to do. They weren't moving, so it wasn't something that could really be cited. But my gut told me she wasn't going to do anything about it once she did get going. His shoes were untied and he looked disheveled, not very well kept. Worst of all, his eyes looked sad. But what in the world could I do about sad eyes and loosened car seat straps in a vehicle that wasn't moving??

Anyways, just wondered what others consider appropriate in situations where child seat safety isn't being respected. Who exactly do you call?

[aeneva]

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 and that is fine when done in the driveway or driving through the back yard, but not down the road! Sheesh some people just don't get it. The way cars were built and the speed limits and stuff were a lot different back then. Heck I refused to take a bottle from my father (who couldn't drive due to medical restrictions) so on long car trips he would lay my head in moms lap while she drove and give me a bottle so I thought she was feeding me!