Moral dilemma - using car seats

when_will_it_end

pig pen - how the hell do you do it lol...congrats on the next arrival

i would report this is something that really makes me mad when im off work i sometimes give my friend a lift to school and back the amount of mothers and fathers in there big expencive cars that have children not even strapped in makes my blood boil, i have shook my head at them many times for them to frown an drive off, i have a few friends with children 5 plus i dont have young ones but i bought a booster seat for 2 pounds off a car boot sale and i just leave it in my car

i suggested that my friend ask school to send out a leaflet on how important it is to have your child buckled up safely in the car

some parents make me so mad they buckle up so why dont they make sure their child is

grrrrrrrr

pigpen

jcr16 wrote: »

What i don't understand is tho, why car seats are law in private cars but in a taxi the child is allowed to sit on your lap .

Because they don't have to be in a car seat for one off trips which is what a taxi ride usually is.. though if they are able and available they should use the adult seat belts provided (from 3 I think they say) below that the adult is belted in and the child can sit on the lap.

135cm is the height limit at the moment or the 12th birthday but it is now recommended they stay on a booster until 150cm which is what the rules are in other EU countries whose child death stats are very much lower than ours.

We have a spare booster in the boot too.. was £5 from kiddicare.. so we can have safe friends too

Teddy_KGB

I think the bigger issue here is 7 kids + 2 adults in a 5 seater car, without looking at my insurance documents I would assume that over loading the car like this would mean the insurance is void in the event of an accident?

But having said that, the type of person who doesn't piles loads of kids in a car and doesn't bother with car seats is the type of person who probably doesn't bother with insurance or tax!

cyclingyorkie

neither OH nor I drive - but we still had car seats when the kids were little! These were to put in friends/relatives cars if needed.......

Imp

If it was me, I'd mind my own business.

If you have a large family, you can afford some wastage

Gloomendoom

In the locality where I work it is common to see five, six or seven children bouncing about unrestrained in a small car.

I don't understand how the parents get away with it.

picnic

Imp wrote: »

If it was me, I'd mind my own business.

If you have a large family, you can afford some wastage

wastage?? like a dead child?? get them a car seat somehow!! for the sake of a childs life....

faithcecilia

Could always buy a classic car. My friends dad had a 1951 (I think) Zepher with bench seats, could easily get 10 kids in that, and my old '58 Prefect could get 4 or 5 on the back seat. I don't think late 70s-early 80s cars were generally well built enough to still be going strong, but if there is one that wasn't built with seatbelts then you don't need them.

pelirocco

pigpen wrote: »

What if they just simply cannot afford seats? They aren't cheap!

i read a post here only yesterday where a lady had been seen strapping the year old child in a 3+ booster seat because she hadn't the money for a proper seat.. a fine would be just what they needed.. the children might not get food either then!

Can run a car but not afford food?

heretolearn_2

I'd report to the police and social services, I don't care about their financial affairs, if they can't afford a bigger car/2 cars/carseats then they should get the bus.

I probably would have just worried about it but minded my own business until this year.

A young family I know was involved in a car accident recently, driving to the supermarket. All in appropriate seat-belts/car seats. The mum (driving) was killed outright, the dad (passenger front seat) has nearly died, spent two months in hospital and has just come out with brain damage, and of the three children in back in car seats/bolster cushions, two were unhurt and one spent a few days in hospital with head injuries. If those children had been loose in the car I'm quite sure every single person in that car would be dead now - the children from severe injuries and the dad also from additional injuries from the flying children.

I'm tearing up just thinking about what did happen, let alone what could have happened if they'd been irresponsible parents.