There is more to car safety than just wearing seat belts
Post written by: beagooddad
There’s a really nice post over at GNMParents about making sure kids wear seat belts.
It reminded me of another car safety violation that a number of parents seem to do.
While walking into the post office the other day, I passed several cars idling on the curb. This post office is in a strip mall. One of the cars had 3 kids, at least one who was still in a car seat and no adults. None of the kids was older than 7.
Inside, there was a line that would have taken at least 15 minutes. Some parent left their kids alone in an idling car for at least 15 minutes.
That’s just completely crazy. I’m sure the doors were locked and I’m sure (s)he was watching them from inside the building. How long do you think it would take for somebody to come up, smash a window and take off with a kid? What would happen if the car somehow ended up a gear either through mechanical failure or one of the older kids climbing into the driver’s seat.
They all seemed to have their seat belts on, but I don’t think that was their biggest problem.
April 30th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Makes you a little nuts doesn’t it? I’ll never forget watching a toddler left in an idling truck at the gas station. The truck was left running WHILE pumping gas and the adult went in to pay. The little girl moved freely around the cabin and within minuts knocked the automatic transmission into reverse. The truck sped back and rammed into the side of the building. I had to stay and leave a statement as a witness. The officer said the grandmother was claiming that the car was turned off and the toddler had turned it on. Diesel, glow plugs…and that wouldn’t have been alright either. At least I was able to share what I saw and hopefully the “adult” paid the right consequences for the stupidity.
Hugs,
Holly
April 30th, 2007 at 11:07 am
That is another thing that drives me crazy. People leaving kids in cars. When I was gathering info for the car seat piece (thanks for the links) I came across this info on the AAP site:
“Children should never be left alone in a car whether they are in their car safety seats or not. Any of the following can happen when a child is left alone in a vehicle:
* Temperatures can reach deadly levels in minutes, and the child can die of heat stroke.
* He can be strangled by power windows, sunroofs, or accessories.
* He can be taken during a car theft or kidnapped from the vehicle.
* He can knock the vehicle into gear, setting it in motion.
Don’t leave your baby unattended in a car safety seat outside of the vehicle either. When your baby falls asleep in her car safety seat, it can be tempting to bring her inside and leave her alone in the seat, but this can be unsafe. Your baby can fall out of the seat, or the seat can fall over. And remember, placing the car safety seat on a shopping cart is unsafe too. The best place for your baby to sleep is on her back in a safe crib.”
This piece of parenting simply isn’t brain surgery. Secure your kids in the car and don’t leave them alone or bad things will happen.
Sheesh.