WWYD -- unbelted toddler in front seat?
 

So, I was driving home from jury duty yesterday, and as I pass this minivan, I see 2 little eyes peering out at me just barely above the door on the passenger side. Obviously just a small child.

As fate would have it, I ended up stopping right next to the car at the next light and I get a better look. There's an absolutely BEAUTIFUL little girl, probably 3-4 years old, sitting on the very front edge of the front passenger seat. No car seat, no seat belt.

I beeped the horn a few times, and when the woman driver (also no seatbelt) finally looked over at me, I grabbed my seatbelt, held it out and mouthed SEATBELT!!! She just blinked, turned away and ignored me.

WTF???? What's wrong with people? I was really worked up by the thought of something happening to this angelic little child because her mom(?) is such an ignoramus.

So, would you have done what I did? More? I know, when I was a kid, we all rode like that and no one thought anything of it, so maybe I'm making too big a deal of it. What do you think?

Hey Dawn there used to be a number you could call to report someone like that...I don't remember it but I know there was something...also you could have probably called the police and givent them there liscense plate number too...

it's so wrong!!!

I don't think you could've done any more than you did, without possibly putting yourself in danger. Sad that I even think like that, but who knows what the woman would have done if you tried to do anything more.

Unfortunately, people still don't seem to understand the importance of seatbelts. Which drives me insane.

I'm not sure what else you could have done, but I hate when people do that. We live outside the city and see this all the time! I don't know why they don't realize how important safety is!

People do that all the time here, it drives me crazy. The cops could never keep up with all of them around here. It's nothing to see them standing up, lying in the back window, anything.

i would've done the EXACT same thing. what a freak of nature. does she not value her childs life? people are soooo creepy sometimes. mason almost 6- still in a carseat, lukas is almost 8...still in a booster. what is wrong with people?

Honestly, I have no tolerance, I would've held up my phone and mouthed 911 and if she had ignored me, I'd have called 911. People like that need to have their kids taken away. MORON.

<sigh>

It drives me nuts too!! There is actually a man in this town that drives around with his dog sitting on TOP of his pickup truck. If he had to slam on the brakes - that dog would be flying.

Not sure there is more you could have done, short of calling the police to report her. But even that probably would not have turned her from ignoramus-ness. And what could they do if they didn't actually see the child in danger, kwim?

Side note: I think it's actually hard work to be an ignoramus about this issue...child safety issues, not to mention buckle up campaigns, are everywhere and it's hard not to know better. So this woman is worse than an ignoramus...she's deliberately not holding the best interests of her kid at heart.

woo..okay that was a rant and a half. Sorry about that.

ANYway...I know it's hard not to think about this. But you did all you could do and more than most would.

Yeah, I would call to that number and report. Around here I think if someone gets reported from that number they get some sort of notice in the mail.

Personally? I would have grabbed my cell phone and called the police, and given them the license plate number and description of where we were. No way would she be able to buckle herself AND her child into their seats by the time she saw flashing lights. Even if she did, a child that small is NOT supposed to be in the front seat.

I'd definitely take down the license plate number and report it.

I've actually called the police several times for this kind of thing. I am one of the crazy moms who required booster seats until my kids were tall enough for the seat belts to fit them properly, and my daughter had to wait until she was 12 before riding in the front seat. My husband had a teen cousin die in a car accident, and she would have been totally fine if she had only been wearing her seatbelt.

Anyways. The police have never dismissed my concern when I've called. Oh...I don't call 911...just the local police dept.

Id have done the same, tried to convey to her... then probably have called the cops. SOooo dangerous.

I see the around here too, but mostly unbelted in the back of vans hopping over seats etc.

this is really interesting cause I neeeeeeeeever see this in CA...kids are always buckled in and in the back seat. Our police must be bigger hardasses about it than other states..

I have, and will again I'm sure, written down the plate number and then called the local P.D., not 911.

Some people are just STUPID...

that's so wrong, yet i see it all the time....

Most states do have numbers you can call to report unrestrained children. In a case like this one though, I'd have called 911. An unrestrained toddler in the front seat is in imminent danger...even just from Mom needing to stop short for some reason.

Krystal, I'm the same way as you. Legally, my eldest could be in just a seat belt since he's eight years old (nine next month). But he's a shorty at 4'2½", so he's in his booster until he passes the 5 step test. His brother, who will be 6 in a couple weeks, is in a high weight harnessed seat and will be for some time to come. He's 64lbs, his seat goes to 115lbs. :thumbup: And future babies will rear face as long as is possible, none of this 1 and 20 stuff!

I would have (and have before) got the licence plate number and called the police. People like that make me so angry.

We are extended a rear-facing and extended harness family all the way. I would have called 911 right there. There is absolutely no excuse for that in this day and age.

This is one of my big issues in life. One of my high school classmates (years after we graduated) didn't have his son buckled in and they got in an accident, tragically the little boy died. He was arrested for manslaughter on his own son and went to jail for like 5 years. I don't think people take the laws on child safety seriously. And it really saddens me. My oldest is 16, so the laws have changed quite a bit since he was little. I remember that he outgrew all carseats before he was 5, nowadays they make the carseats and boosters bigger so people should have no problem finding seats that fit. Just because someone may not know the National Highway Safety Rules, here they are-

1. REAR FACING SEATS in the back seat from birth to at least 1 year old and at least 20 pounds.
2. FORWARD-FACING TODDLER SEATS in the back seat from age 1 and 20 pounds to about age 4 and 40 pounds.
3. BOOSTER SEATS in the back seat from about age 4 to at least age 8, unless 4'9" tall.
4. SAFETY BELTS at age 8 and older or taller than 4'9". All children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat.

Do some research if you want carseats that are for bigger kids. I have a Britax Regent for my 5 1/2 year old and I don't see him outgrowing it anytime soon. There are good safe options out there!

Sorry for jumping on my soapbox! You all know I don't do this often, but it's so serious and I know we are moms that adore our kids so I'm probably saying this to nobody here anyway!

I would have did what you did then picked up my phone, called 911, followed her until a cop was following as well! Here anyway if they know you are following and giving them there exact location they try to catch them in the act!! :)

I have done this a couple times with people drinking while they are driving!!

Here, you can dial *HP and someone will come right away. I've called before about a drunken driver and DH called about some guy who was nodding off. If I didn't have that ability, I would use 911 as well.

Mine were rearfacing until they got too long for the seat requirements, then I turned them around. Actually the rear facing freaked me out a bit because I always checked to see if they were breathing. LOL

I have called 911 before on morons going down the highway like that.

Here in Missouri-this is LAW! Not that it's fully enforced. I do see a whole lot less of this than we used to. I think another state passed this as law at the same time Missouri did. I want to say it was Tennessee, but I'm really not sure.

I would have definitely taken the license plate number and called the police to report it. Not only should she have had a seatbelt on she should have been in a carseat well toddler seat if she was under 8 or 80 lbs in our state!

Yeah, you're right Pam. She really should not have been in a seatbelt, she should have been in a carseat. AND, not in the front seat. So lots or things going wrong there.

I do see lots of kids not in car seats here because we have a lot of Latino families and I understand that Latinos have a much lower car seat and seatbelt usage rate. BUT, at least most of the kids I see are at least in the back seat! Honestly, looking at this little girl made me feel so WEIRD -- almost like I was naked in public or something -- like wildly unsafe and unprotected!

Well, I'm on the other side of the fence. The only way my kiddo would stay in his buster seat is with a DVD in the DVD player and not for too long. So even when we do that in road trips and when we are running errands, usually he leaves the house buckled and end out of his seat at the end of the afternoon.
And when I pick him up at pre-k he refuse to go in the back because he is telling me everything about school (and is just 4 block from home).

I totally see your point and concern, but I also think is not your business. If someone would beep me for that , depending on my mood I would a. laugh, b. ignore her c. send her to flay far far away (to put it on a polite way).

And call 911, is totally absurd, I'm pretty sure police have more important things to do than chase a soccer mom with a toddler in the front seat.

I have to respectfully disagree. It is our business to intervene when we see a child in obvious jeopardy. There is no possible way a child in that situation would survive a wreck, and the mother would absolutely be charged with child endangerment at a minimum. And many, many fatal wrecks happen within blocks of home.

I see the "it is not my business" point, but not sure that I agree with it entirely. I do think it's irresponsible to have an unbelted toddler in the front seat (sorry Oriana -- no offense to you, but that's how I feel), and if a woman won't look after the safety of her own kid, I don't have a problem with trying to shame her into it. I mean, she can decide not the wear a seatbelt HERSELF -- because she is an adult and is capable of weighing the risks for her own life, but I don't think that's fair to a kid.

As for making kids stay in their seats, we simply will not drive as long as someone has their seatbelt off. I can assure you that when I pull over to the side of the road and park there and tell them "we are not going anywhere until everyoone is in their seat and buckled in," it works. They may think it's funny for a couple minutes to play around, but they get bored pretty quick in that small car and give up.

I have called 911 for this before. There is NO reason for this type of behavior.

Actually I've been more close to have accident when I have a toddler who know how unbucle the seat bealt making a tantrum and trying to keep him in a buster or not walking around the car (I have a big car).

But since we agree that he can seat near to me holding my hand in short trips he is totally well behaved. And he knows he have to be bucled in long trips.

I know a buster is safer, I'm not aguing that, but a mother who is not paying atention to the road is more dangerous...

My point is that you don't know why the kid is not wearing the seat belt, no mother want any harm for her kid. And you don't know why she didn't use it (I remeber skip my seat bealt for 2 months after my boob job because was painful).

A healthy concern is fine, and aprecaited, but calling 911 is totally way out of the fence. Maybe I'm seeing things different because in my Country I'm not breaking any law (car seats are mandatory just till 1 year old). On the other hand driving (sometimes with kids in the car) speaking in the cell phone is against the law here and you don't see me saying that other ppl are X, Y or Z

My personal point of view with EVERYTHING is don't mind other ppl business, mind your own, unless somebody else is directly bothering me, they can do whatever they want with their lifes. And that was my post about, not against car seats (as I do think are a great invention) but against nosing other ppl business. If the kid is happy and unharmed, then just back off. We can not send the law on ppl just based on "what if..."

Oriana, I understand what you are saying. In the US it is the LAW that children are in seats/seatbelts/restrained.

Oriana, I understand where you are coming from as well, but I do have to respectfully disagree. Maybe in some countries it isn't the law to wear a seatbelt, but in Canada and the US it is. And for me (again personally), the law is the law, and I'm not at liberty to follow it or not follow it as I see fit, and not expect there to be consequences.

I am worried that what if someday you were in an accident. Even just a minor bump. You would be in SERIOUS trouble for not having your child buckled up properly and safely. The law does not have a "well, no one was seriously injured, we'll just let this go for now" clause. You would be fined at the very least, but you could be facing something you don't even want to think about if they chose to prosecute.

It may not be my business that someone doesn't have their kid buckled up, but how badly would I feel if that person got into an accident that hurt/killed the child, and I knew that there was something *I* could have done??

I also agree that a distracted mother is dangerous, as well as people speaking on cell phones or texting (which I think should be against the law everywhere!). But is a mother less distracted when she's got a small child jumping all over the seats in the back or front?? I know I wouldn't be!

I am a stickler for the car seat rule. And my husband is a firefighter. When we were in high school there was a car accident in his front yard,SERIOUSLY. There were 8 kids piled in a tiny toyota. They were on thier way to the lake that was about 1/4 mile from his house. 3 kids under 5 died on his front lawn. He was an EMT so he had to respond. He was hit so hard by that trauma. He later became a dispatcher for the state police. So, when I see a child not buckled in a child safety seat, I take the plate and call dispatch and tell them the registration and where they are. They usually send a trooper.

I know is the law Samara, but I also think your taxes (where the 911 salaries come) will be better invested chasing domestic violence, drug dealers, child abuse or many other horrible crimes that all societies (including mine) are so full of.

The lady is a little irresponsable, yes... she deserve a warning, yes... but she is not a criminal...

And that is my final post on the subject because I'm leaving to the movies and don't feel like translate my very own long rambligs at the point... LOL

I have called the police department before for that.

I agree with the other ladies about taking the license plate number and calling the police. I happen to know that something like that is considered NEGLECT according to AZ statutes...

If her child died because of not wearing a seat belt or not being in a booster seat, she would most likely be convicted of manslaughter, so yes, technically she is a criminal since she is breaking the law by not properly restraining her child. Even if it was legal, there is no good reason for putting your child at risk. None.

ITA. Not restraining your child properly can KILL them. Just not ok. It's not worth the risk IMO. Yes, my children have screamed from the backseat while I was driving because they didn't want to be in their carseats, but I would NEVER let them go anywhere, not even a block, without being in their carseats properly. A friend from high school held her baby in her lap while she was driving 2 blocks to her mother's house. She had a wreck on the way and the baby died. There is just no sense in that.

Dawn I totally would have done the same thing!!!

When I see things like that my tummy starts to ache and I almost get sick to my stomach!!!! But I'm a freak like that and I won't even let my kids SIT in our parked van without being buckled in because I'm scared to death someone will just plow into us!!! To many crazy drivers out there!!! But I'm a paranoid freak so I take things to the extreme!!! :blink:

My kids rearface until age 2 and are in a harness as long as possible--DS1 is 5 years and 40 lbs and still has a long way to go before he outgrows his 5 pt harness. Thanks for this thread--if I had seen something like this I would have been horrified and haunted by it later, but would not really have known what to do. Now I do. I don't know if it comes down to regional differences in attitudes or enforcement, but thankfully I never see kids riding without age-appropriate seats or belts here.

I'd have gotten the tag number and called her in. That is ridiculous and I couldn't have gone on about my day without knowing I'd done everything I could to try to keep that little girl safe. :(

But this is coming from a mom who still has her 6 year old in a 5 point harness and has called to report daycare providers for not having passengers in proper carseats while doing school pickups. :p I may be a touch extreme in my views in this area. :p

I COMPLETELYAGREE!!!!!!!!

I'd have to call it in... so sad to think what could happen.

our little man will be harnessed as long as possible. heck, he was still rear-facing until THIS WEEK and he'll be 3 in December. he was so confused... kept trying to turn around while we were buckling him in. :D

What a moron!!

Wow. Creepy. So my husband is a social worker (works with child welfare and protective services a lot) and I asked him about this. He says every state is different, but you should definitely call 911 if you see something like that. In most states, any time a report comes in about a child possibly in danger (and yes, this qualifies as I think every state now has seatbelt laws at least for children), the police are required to at least check it out. Nothing would happen to her (since they couldn't prove anything) other than them telling her they had received a complaint and they needed to ask her some questions. They would probably then scare the hell out of her. If nothing else, maybe a knock on her door from the cops or child services would make the Mom think next time she puts her child in the car?

On a side note, here in Hawaii they recently passed new child restraint laws that require children under 4'9" to be in a booster seat in the back seat in any moving vehicle, regardless of age (well, maybe until they're legally driving, I don't know)....that means I would have been in a booster seat until I was in 9th grade!!!!!!!!!!! ha! :blink:

That's exactly what I would've done. It makes me SOOO angry when I see little ones in danger like that. And, not only the fact that she was without a seatbelt, but she was in the front seat!! If it was a newer car, the airbags could kill her if an impact didn't. I just don't understand how people can gamble with something SO precious. :cursing:

there's a mum at our school whose son is 6 and in Kindy. He sits in the back seat without a seat belt next to his 4 yr old brother also without a seat belt. Then in the front seat is their 2yr old brother who sits on top of a cushion on the front seat without a seat belt. The other thing is that they are Asian and are very small build so actually look even younger than they are. Oh yeah, the mum, DOES wear her seatbelt!

Hmmm, thanks Jen for that info. It never even occurred to me to call 911 or the police. When broke into our car last year, they seemed extremely uninterested -- took a bored report over the phone, never even came to look at the car, and we never heard anything else about it. So, I would have assumed the police would just laugh if I called in about something like this. I'm glad to hear that they might take it seriously.