What would you do???

[momathome]

Just curious how you all would handle this because I have not been able to get this off my mind since it happened. A few weeks ago, I was driving into Philadelphia to take my girls to the zoo when I noticed that the car in front of me on the highway had a young couple with a baby who looked to be maybe about 12 months old. Neither parent was wearing a seatbelt but even far more disturbing was the part where the mother was holding the unrestrained baby on her lap in the front seat. I nearly had a heart attack - I just kept thinking, my God, if we have an accident, that baby will go flying through the windshield. I was debating about whether or not I should call 911 when they got off the highway at one of the more complicated exits so it would have been very difficult for me to tell the police where they were headed. Would you have called 911? I just couldn't decide if this was something that could be considered an emergency or whether it was something that a dispatcher would laugh at me for. I hate issues like this and feel like I just wanted to shake these people and ask them if they have been living in a cave - how do you not know to be a baby in a carseat? Pennsylvania just passed a pretty impressive booster seat law which states that all children have to be restrained by a carseat or booster seat until they are at least 7 years old or 70lbs - this child was maybe 1. Ugh!!! Thanks for letting me rant a bit and feel free to tell me what you think!
-Lauren

[egoldber]

If you have the license plate number, you could call the non-emergency police line and report them. They wouldn't be cited, but they might get a letter and a call. Many states have programs like this where you can call in to report unlawful behaviors (aggressive driving, red light running, etc.). I believe that unless an officer witnesses the behavior there is nothing they can do, but it might wake them up.

Personally, I wouldn't call 911. That is reserved for people with life threatening emergencies. And while it was definitely an unwise, unsafe behavior, I don't think 911 is the right tool.

HTH,

[flagger]

I certainly wouldn't call 911 as that number should ONLY be used for life and death emergencies. I wouldn't also assume that they do not know the law about babies in a car seat.

I know many many good loving parents who have said "I'm only going to the store." or who have breastfed, burped and even changed diapers while in a moving vehicle. I know this is of concern to you and I appreciate your need to rant.

[MartiesMom2B]

Lauren:

I would do just what Beth said and write down the license plate number and call the non emergency number. However I don't know how much they would do since you probably wouldn't call the non-emergency number till you go home and it would be after you saw them.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[Jenmv]

I agree with Beth. My husband is a police officer and whenever you see someone doing something dangerous like that it is best to call the non-emergency number with the plate number. The plate can be ran and they can contact the owner of the car. Can't guarantee what will happen from there, but at least you know you tried.

[4S Ranch]

Here's an article from USA Today referring to the new 311 system for non-emergency calls. It's not in all cities, but it's spreading. And I would definitely report them!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/03/05/usat-311.htm

I'm amazed at how many intelligent people will take their babies out of the carseat even for an instant! It's the feeling that they're in control and "it can't happen to me". And they probably think "we didn't grow up with carseats, and we survived." I hear that a lot from people my parent's age. Or who knows, maybe they're not thinking at all. I just wish everyone could know what it feels like to be spinning at 70 mph on the highway and know they're about to crash! They'd never take their babies out of the carseat while the car's in motion again!

Shelly

[ginalc]

My SIL does the same thing with her Grandson that she watches daily. She doesn't think much of it because they are just driving around farm grounds, sometimes in to town. I literally bite my tongue when they laugh about this 2.5 yr old who refuses to wear confining seatbelt restraints. They viewed it as too much work to transfer the carseat from one vehicle to another when he was little (they drive several), and DS didn't like riding rear-facing as an infant anyway. Now they refer to him a a "big boy" and do without a carseat during the day.

Her claim is that she's raised 4 kids without seatbelts or carseats, she's nursed while driving, and her kids were fine. I've simply decided that there is only so much you can say and do unless they are your kids and you are doing the buckling up.

I ALWAYS make my soon-to-13 yr old buckle up, and check the carseats after she has helped buckle in the 2 little ones. DH doesn't like to wear a seatbelt either, but I just sit in the vehicle and wait until he does. My car does not move until everyone is buckled in.

[brubeck]

I don't know if this is true in the US but in Ontario (where I learned to drive and took my driving tests) the driver is legally responsible if a passenger under the age of 16 is not wearing a seatbelt. In other words, if the driver is stopped and the 15 year old is not wearing the seatbelt the DRIVER gets ticketed. If the person is 16 or older then the PASSENGER gets ticketed.

And perhaps I am misinformed, but I believe carseats are MANDATORY in EVERY state and in Canada. The difference is how long they are mandatory. (ie: age 2, 4, 7, etc.) Therefore anywhere in the US, all children under age 2 should be in carseats, there is no excuse.

[parkersmama]

I would have probably gone ahead and called 911. I know that it is an emergency number but around here it's called for many different reasons. We once picked up a stray dog to save it from getting run over. We couldn't keep it and weren't able to find anyone to take it so we needed to contact animal control. When we tried to find the number for them we were told to call 911 and ask for animal control! Weird. Anyway, I've often called 911 from the road to report a stranded motorist, etc. It's not exactly an emergency but they do take those sorts of calls. That's also the number to call to report erratic driving (such as a suspected drunk driver) so I think it would be okay to call to report something along the lines of an unrestrained child. I have occasionally witnessed this myself and while stewing over whether and how to report the person, I've gotten separated like you did and ended up not calling.

Interestingly enough...wasn't it in Pennsylvania that a women was stopped and arrested/ticketed this week for breastfeeding her infant while driving? Sounds like they are cracking down on this stuff up there!

[sweetbasil]

>I know many many good loving parents who have said "I'm only
>going to the store." or who have breastfed, burped and even
>changed diapers while in a moving vehicle.

There was an news story in Houston a while back about a mother who had pulled off the side of the road to breastfeed her baby and tragically, their car was hit by a drunk. The mom was strapped in with her seatbelt, but the baby was thrown from the car and died instantly.

We have several friends who will get their kids out of their carseats while the car is in motion, but we've never done that with DS. It's not that the parents aren't good and loving, but you never know who else is out there or what awful thing could happen. I hate to sound alarmist or anything, but I definitely think there are good reasons for child safety laws like using carseats, and wouldn't hesitate to call a non-emergency number like Beth recommended. It's for the parents' own good, and the child's. I've got our local non-emergency police number programmed into my cell phone so I have it close at hand any time I see an accident, etc., and want to be sure someone knows and can respond quickly....

[MartiesMom2B]

Julie:

Thank you for posting this story. This will make me think twice about bf-ing Martie on the side of the road. We have pulled into parking lots several times though in order to breastfeed.

Sonia
Proud Mommy to Martie 4/6/03

[lisams]

This is a number in Arizona to call, but I'm sure if you call they could help you out. It's the "Buckle Up, Baby" hotline : 1-800-505-BABY (2229). Provide the vehicle license number and state, city where you observed the incident and where the child was sitting in the vehicle. Public information materials on child safety seats will be mailed to the registered owner. The material describes the danger and encourages the owner to purchase a child restraint system. The information is not provided to any law enforcement agencies or insurance companies.

You may want to call the number and see if they have something similar in your state, or if this number would work for any state.

HTH!
Lisa

[luvbeinmama]

In CA, 911 from a cell phone goes directly to the highway patrol dispatch center. So people on the freeways out here call 911 for all sorts of road violations... drunk driving, things in the road, stranded motorists, crashes, etc. So I think that would qualify for a 911 call here, anyway. I know DH would just LOVE to get his hands on people like that and give them a ticket & a good tongue-lashing! He's seen a lot of kids saved by their car seats, too! He's been working in EMS-type jobs (EMT & Police) for over 10 years now, and he has yet to see a crash where the passengers were better off for not wearing their seat belts.

911 from land-lines are for true emergencies only.

[Melanie]

I'd have tried to get the plate & call 911 if they stayed on the highway. Otherwise, I'd call the police later.

There is NO excuse, IMO, to EVER remove a child from a car seat in a moving vehicle. None. Ever.

[dogmom]

You mean what have I done in the past? My DH calls me a seatbelt Nazi. I'm a nurse. I've worked in a neuro ICU and I've worked for the local organ bank at one point as a donation coordinator. So, I have an up close technicolor vision of what not wearing seatbelts does to a person and their family. I have gotten out of cars at intersections to knock on people's windows to preach the gospel of seat belts. Heck, if people can ask for money why can't I explain to them my assignment is busy enough that I don't need to be explaining to their loved one's that they will never walk or breath on their own again. Or, maybe I know a more deserving less stupid person that could use their liver, heart, lungs, kidneys. And that's adults. I informed one parent with a child I would be calling the cops and giving them their plate number. My DH has since made me promise to stop this practice for fear I will get myself shot. I'd probably just call the cops now, maybe. Of course when someone mentions Princess Dianna to me I say, "You know if she was wearing her seatblet her kids would still have a mother." Whenever people say it's a personal choice I respond only if I get to leave them dying on the roadway so they don't take up scarce medical resources. I'd reather deal with drug and alcohol abusers, at least they are getting high. Where is the upside of not wearing a seatbelt? See, I told you I was a seatbelt Nazi. Luckily my DH thinks it's cute not annoying. The good news is I only actually was involved with one case when kids weren't in car seats. Luckily it really isn't that common.

Jeanne
Mom to Harvey & Seatbelt Zealot

[momathome]

Thank you all for your comments. This has happened far too many times and each time I have questioned myself as to what action (if any) to take. I think if I see something like this again, I will just call 911 from cell phone and give the license # - This might be a bit much but I have decided I would rather overreact to a situation where a child's saftey is in jeopardy. I would hate to see the family on the news showing how their child was tragically ejected from the car in an accident.
-Lauren

[emilyr]

I know this is an old thread but it took forever for me to find it and I found out from my cps tech that there is a national number and a state number (at least in KY) that you can call and they will dispatch to the correct law enforcement agency and a warning letter will be sent to the offenders and I believe she said the next time they were caught, it was an automatic arrest. I am calling her Monday (well, maybe Tues since I work 12 hours Mon) to get the numbers and will post them. She has them programmed in on her cell phone.

BTW, I was told my carseat was in "perfectly"! I was so proud of myself!!

Emily