I have noticed a disturbing behavior exhibited by parents in the car riders parking lot on a daily basis, and after what I witnessed this morning, I have to speak up!
Every day when I go to pick the boys up from school I see kids that are not in seat belts. Kids of all ages, from preschool to elementary aged kids. They are standing up through the sun roof, sitting in mom’s lap (in the driver’s seat), jumping up and down in the back seat, and today hanging out the window (seriously, sitting with everything but his legs hanging out the window). The first few times I witnessed this, it was alarming. I was shocked, that these kids weren’t in seat belts, and some looked like they should have been in car seats. Please don’t get the wrong idea, I am not writing this post to judge parents, but instead to raise awareness. While I completely understand how boring it is to wait, in the car for our children (I have a 2 year old & 10 month old), I think this is a very dangerous way to keep our children entertained.
Aside from being illegal, allowing your child to do these things could prove fatal.
Why am I so concerned? When I was 10 my mom and I went to pick my brother up from school (I was sick that day) and I witnessed an accident I will never forget. The last bell of the day rang and the kids came rushing out of school. When one little girl got into the car she slammed her finger in the door. When the mom (driver) wasn’t sure what happened and her focus went from driving to helping her daughter. She took her foot off the brake for a moment and what happened next was horrible. Her car smashed into the car in front of her, and set off a chain reaction. At the end of the day a few children where injured and one adult lost her legs (she was loading children into a day care van, and was struck by the car behind the van). It was a horrible thing to witness, and has shown me just how quickly the act of picking a child up from school can turn into a tragic situation.
PARENTS: Be careful, just because cars are inching along, doesn’t make it safe for a child to move around in the vehicle. Imagine what would have happened to the child who was hanging out the window this morning if the car behind them crashed into them. It’s not worth the risk!
What a tragic accident.
I am very strict about seat belt/carseat use, but as an older mom remember very well the way kids used to jump around in cars on the highway, never mind at a slow crawl in a parking lot. Car seats were something you rarely saw back then. We didn't even have seat belts in a couple of the cars my family owned. It is amazing how much things have shifted.
Every day I see people driving without their children securely fastened in child safety seats – sometimes they're in the driver's laps! I call 911 and report the drivers.
I can't imagine what you went through at that age. But I do agree that all parents should make sure their children are secure before driving. I have seven and we make sure they're secure.
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Tomica
I cannot imagine witnessing an accident like that, especially at such a young age. Thanks for bringing awareness to such an important topic! I think too often, parents think "it won't happen to me" and the reality is, it does!
I lost my best friend in middle school. She was 14 and riding on the back of a pick-up truck with her 2 siblings on a back country road. The truck wasn't going at a fast speed, but lost control on the gravel road. She flew off and the truck landed on top of her! Her other 2 siblings were not injured. Needless to say, these things do happen even when the intent was just a family out for a joy ride enjoying the countryside.
Oh my gosh, that accident had to have been terrible. Kids bouncing around the car in pick-up and drop-off happens at my children's preschool too and I grimace every time I see it. Thanks to your story, I will speak up this year and let the teachers know about the offenders, I will hope it causes them to change and will save a major injury.
I am so sorry you had to witness a horrible event like that! So sad!
I make my husband put his darn seatbelt on! He never used to all the time, but I make him. I need him around for our family. I'm the worry wart in my family. And the kids will be in car seats until they outgrow them, we have Britax so it may take a long time. It will make me happier.
I first met my now sister in law when she, her 2 kids (then 2 and 6?), and brother in law drove from the East Coast to IL at Thanksgiving. They were having issues with their brakes the whole way. Come to find out, the kids weren't in seats the entire way. The laid the seats down so the kids could do whatever.
I confronted my brother in law. Asked him if he was seatbelted the whole way and he said, "yes." I asked him why he and his girlfriend got to be seatbelted and not the kids. And driving with bad brakes on top of that? I was so upset!
Needless to say, my sister in law was PISSED OFF at me. I didn't know her from Adam at the time so that's why I talked to my bro in law. We were finally able to talk it out.
Bad way to meet someone and bad way to have Thanksgiving!
Honestly, they never intended to hurt anyone, and they love their kids to death. They just thought it'd be okay, and thankfully they were.
I think it's a good idea to remind people. Sorry for your bad experience. Wow.
I am so anal about seat belts. My sister was at fault in a car accident in which a newborn baby was on the dashboard and hit the window. Who puts their baby on the dashboard? My sister was at fault. Period. End. But the injuries could have been prevented.
We put seat belts on to go from one parking lot to the one next door. When I say anal I mean anal.
You know, when my kiddos get in the car, the first thing they do is buckle! They wouldn't dream of unbuckling, parked or not!
You know, too, those car rider lines… at any point in time, there MAY be an accident or emergency to where someone needs to quickly pull out of the line, and you never know when you're going to have to throw it in drive and pull up out of the way, or whatever.
Thank you for raising awareness.
Your story at the end had me totally shocked! My mom used to let my brother and sisters do exactly what you saw when we were picking up kids at school. Never in a million years would I think of that possibility.
Thank you so much for sharing this Shasta. I will be stricter with my daughter now. WOW
I hate to see six year olds climbing into the front seats of cars. Where we lived before I don't think parents thought bad things could happen. Why don't people think life changes in an instant?
When I was six, my sister was four, we were one block from home at a red light. My sister and I figured we were only a block away and we unbuckled. A drunk driver ran a red light and plowed into my mom and we were thrown against the front seats. We were shaken, but okay, while my mother was badly hurt. Something saved the rest of us in that car because there wasn't anything left. This serves as a daily reminder to our family that even if it is a short trip anything can happen.
I couldn't agree more with your post.
My school will call the police if you leave with your child unbuckled.
The only times the boys are not buckled … and sitting with me in the front seat, is when I am parked in a parking spot and we are waiting a few minutes before going into the school. I can't drop my son off more than 5 minutes before the start of class. So for a few minutes he'll be in the front playing Leapster and my other one will be on my lap playing HIS leapster.
But if we aren't parked … forget it.
I can't agree more. If the car is in motion, be it at 2 mph or 20, kids should be strapped in.
Wow, Shasta. I'm sorry you had to witness that as a child!! I am adamant about seat belts. They do not come off while the car is running. if the cars on, the seat belts are on. I don't care if I'm driving in a parking lot or not.
Man, that's awful!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for sharing your story. It serves as a good reminder of how it is never, ever okay to ignore safety.
Oh my! How awful! I agree with this post totally. It is funny one of your commenters said something about us making our children do things even if they don't want to…I said the exact words practically yesterday to my son. He had to get a physical and said he didn't want to. Well, as a baby he had a heart murmur that we keep an eye on, and so I told him that he needed to go to the doctor whether he "wanted" to or not because it was in his best interest.
Great post…and I am sorry you had to see that as a child!
I totally agree with this post!
Our school is REALLY strict about cars moving. The way ti works is you get in line and NO ONE can get out until they release your car. They do one lane and sit everyone, then release the kids, then you get in, andyou have to sit, and then the release you to drive after everyone is in and buckled.
IN the afternoon, they have 3 lanes and all three are pulled up and have to go into park, then the kids are released to your car, then after ALL the cars are loaded, the release one lane at a time to drive. No cars are allowed to come into the release zone until the section has moved on and a teacher holds the cars back, and it goes like that.
annoying? yes. safe, absolutly.
I do understand what you are saying, i see it too. And once we are in the release area, i let charlotte come up front and give me kisses, but at that point, we are no longer driving and we are waiting for our turn to get out. I just think its more about that last kiss goodbye, but no, i dont let her do it when im driving.
i saw an interesting thing at school today too…go see my newest post.
trisha
Trisha, that is how their school does it too! I agree, it is annoying but like you said it's safer!
Usually the kids I see are the siblings of the one's waiting to be picked up.
Wow, that is scary, thanks for bringing it up though, people need to think before they are forced to deal with horrible results.
3 years ago, a local mother dropped her older child off at school and drove home with her 3 yr old in the backseat (not strapped in). My boss was behind her car when she lost control of her car. The 3 yr old was slammed into the windshield crushing his skull. The mother (had her seat belt on) was unharmed. When they asked why her child was not wearing his seatbelt, she said he didn't like too. We make our children do many things they "don't want to do". That is why they have parents, they are too young to make these decisions for themselves. This mother was charged with indangerment to her child. The child died. A very sad situation that did not have to happen.
Wow! That is so sad.
Although it is very dangerous, I'm not sure if it's illegal to not have your child belted in if the car is not moving (you are parked after all). I agree the parents should be entertaining the kids in other ways. In fact I think the parents are not doing their jobs of being a parent and are more concerned with everything else in their life (talking/texting on their phones, etc).
What a sad thing you had to go through at such a young age.
Shawn Ann, I was referring to the mom who drove with her child in her lap in the parking lot. Although I have heard if the motor is on the child should be buckled, but that may not be a law.
Yeah, I completely agree with you there. There was/is no reason for a parent to allow their child to sit on their lap while the car is moving, even if it's just to move up a few feet. Reckless and endangering their child and other children/people around.
wow, Hallie never told me that story.