People who ignore child safety in cars!!(Rant)

[Seraphim]

Today when I ran to the store this woman was putting her what look to be 5 year old child in the FRONT seat of her van. Firstly by law kids must be in a car seat until they are 8 years old or 80 pounds I believe.(Everyone including parents,grandparents, relatives or friends, who drives with a child under the age of 8 who weighs less than 36 kg (80 lb.) and stands less than 145 cm (4 ft. 9 in.) tall is required to ensure the child is properly secured in the appropriate child car seat or booster seat based on his/her height and weight.) from a government source.

Children under 13 should not be in the front seat of a car. I see this ALL the time!! I even saw one person with a car seat installed in a FRONT SEAT. It tells you on the car seat NOT to install it there and even in the car manual.

 

It is SO annoying that people can not take the time to follow safety regulations when it comes to their kids.

[Pinnsvini]

Wait, booster seats aren't to be used in the front of a car?

[greywolf]

Isn't it ok for kids to sit in the front if the car has no airbags? Maybe it was an old van?

[Seraphim]

Isn't it ok for kids to sit in the front if the car has no airbags? Maybe it was an old van?

 

It does not matter though...the child was younger than 8, and in NO way was 80 pounds. I could have lifted him with my pinky finger.

[annie24]

my mom got a huge ticket over this recently. my mom remarried a few years ago and her husband has 2 adult children, my age. his daughter came to visit them, along with her young children. that family lives in Japan. So, my mom took them all for a drive, and the little boy was standing up in the back seat of the car (next to his mom) and then my mom got pulled over. the police officer gave her a huge ticket because the passengers in the backseats didn't have seatbelts and they had no child seats. my mom didn't know (it's been forever, obviously since she's had small children) and the childrens' mother didn't know they needed to bring car seats. so, my mom fot a $770 ticket!

 

she showed up at court on the day, and the police officer decided to drop the fine. said that my mom should know better from now on than to let small children in the car if they don't have a seat. ultimately, the cop said, that was the mother's duty, not the grandmothers.

[Seraphim]

Yeah it is the driver's responsibility.

I also forgot to add that when this woman drove away her child in the front seat of her vehicle, he also had NO seat belt on.

[Shortpants]

Yes, it never ceases to amaze me when I see a car seat used wrong, or not at all. But I also think it is usually a lack of knowledge on the parents part. I am aghast at all the infant seats I see facing forward, or kids without booster seats, or no car seats at all.

 

Personally, I did extended rear facing with my daughter. I saw a video on Youtube about turning your baby around too early (before their neck is strong enough to handle an impact collision) and the cases of internal decapitation that result. Yes, INTERNAL decapitation... the skull is seperated from the spine. That scared the bejesus out of me because my daughter and I drive almost 100 miles A DAY to work/daycare, and the risk was jsut too great to me.

 

Once she outgrew her infant seat (1 year or 20 lbs) that was REAR FACING, I made sure to get a convertible seat that would go as long as possible in a rear facing position. The one I got only went to 35 pounds, but they do make others that rear face to higher weights. Once she hit 35 pounds, I begrudgingly turned her forward facing as I really couldn't afford another car seat that was rated for higher weights rear facing. But she is still, and will always be, in the back seat. The front passenger airbags can KILL a child with the force of releasing.

 

Here is a helpful link to the US laws, state by state, on child restraint:

link removed

 

My other pet peeve is the straps not being done correctly either. I see so many infants in the carriers with the chest clip down by their bellies. It's called a CHEST clip, not a tummy clip people! I'd hate to think what that would do to an infant in a collision. It definitely wouldn't hold the child in! Oh, last one is the puffy coats and snowsuits for winter and the compression factor that parents don't take into consideration. In a crash, that warm puffy snowsuit will compress, effectively leaving enough slack in the straps to allow your child to be ejected out of the car seat, and possibly out of the vehicle. Fleece is best if you must leave your child in a coat or snowsuit in the carseat.

 

Ok, I'll step down off my soap box now! haha Sorry, I'm just pretty passionate about keeping our kids safe. If we don't look out for them, who will? Please be educated and informed.

[doityourself]

I totally agree,

 

Ive seen so many not even put their children in car seats, its a shame. Really it only takes a few seconds.

[Seraphim]

Yup!!! It is something that irritates the HELL out of me.

[andromeda99]

and even in the car manual.

 

It is SO annoying that people can not take the time to follow safety regulations when it comes to their kids.

 

I agree, it is infuriating! The children can't help it and they are so vulnerable.

[GoneCrazy]

Wait, booster seats aren't to be used in the front of a car?

 

I've never seen people put there kid with the booster seat up front, i think its cause if the airbag goes off it could send the child flying into seat or the airbag can do serious damage.

 

Also if your kid doesn't need a booster seat i think till about a certain age they can't ride in the front.

 

Isn't it ok for kids to sit in the front if the car has no airbags? Maybe it was an old van?

 

That could be much worse cause the child could slip through the straps or it could snap and go flying through the winsheild, in the backseat it would have some protection from the seat infront.