DH let's 3 year old drive his car off the drive

[Imthekingsmummy]

I've never been comfortable with this and said I didn't want him to do it months and months ago but he still does almost everyday.

He sits ds either in his knee or next to him in the front seat (no car seat or booster etc) and drives off the drive and on to the road. Only a few yards but he's still going onto the road and a car could speed round the corner at anytime. It's happened before and gone into our neighbours fence!

Also what would the police say if they came round the corner and saw it?

I'm not comfortable with it at all.

Am I being ridiculous or sensible?! DH thinks ridiculous so wondered if it's just me and what the majority of people think.

No. No it's not....did you even bother to read the op?

@MountainClimber22 what about the bit when they are on the road?

He's being irresponsible. Why does he keep doing it? Because he thinks it's fun for the child?

No sorry its wrong-just hold your 3 year old and say youre not doing it anymore

i used to sit in the footwell of a car is that ok still

Surely the child has no actual control of the car. DH is driving and letting DS think he is?

So the issue is an unrestrained child in a very slow moving car for a very short period of time.

There's no requirement to wear a seatbelt when you're reversing.

Ah I used to be allowed to do this at safari parks. Great memories with my dad. Feels insane now !

On your driveway - fine. In the road - not at all.

Worst case scenario is someone comes tearing round the corner at a high speed, crashes at 30? 40? miles an hour into the car and your son is hurled through the windscreen or the side window depending on if the car hits them from behind or the side .

The likelihood of this is very very small but the consequences of that would be horrendous.

So on a risk assessment it would score a 4 or 5 or mild/moderate or yellow/orange depending on what you use.

For me the question would be could I live with myself if this unlikely but not impossible thing happened when I was doing something completely unnecessary just for fun.

I have never posted here before but there's always a first time. Please tell your husband to stop doing this which you have alteady done. For all those who say I'm a killjoy just google Peter Watfa.

Can you get your son a cosy coupe and suggest that your DH put his energies into playing with your son instead?

At a pinch this kind of thing is perhaps allowable on private land with no-one around but if he has already gone into your neighbour's fence once that does suggest that this is not advisable.

I feel very mehhh about it. But the fact that you asked him not to and he's continuing is the bigger issue.

@Smartsub

Er....where was reversing mentioned??

This would invalidate the motor insurance so i hope to god he doesn't hit someone or someone hits him while he's playing about like this.

Especially if it was a hard enough crash to activate the airbags your son could be killed.

Has he educated himself on what would happen to the child if he was hit by an airbag while pressed up against the steering wheel? That’s what he’s exposing the child to, if another driver crashes in to him. Pathetically inept.

@Spohn

I would think there would be nothing he could do to save his child if the airbag deployed at that proximity

Neck snapping is surely a possibility

Yanbu. Even my dad wouldn't have done this on the road. We'd do this in empty car parks before Sunday trading started.

Obviously. The child would be obliterated.

Airbags go off at a speed of 200mph or something, that's why you can't put a baby seat in front of them.

I don't think it's impossible that the airbag could go off for some reason, it's not really the same as it was pre airbags.

If you Google airbags and children, you'll find lots of reports of deaths, mostly from the 90s... You'd think by now the message would be pretty clear. Perhaps it needs repeating for the people who were children during the 90s and don't remember?

Somewhat different, 3 yr olds on our street all have small electric cars that they drive up and down the road, there’s about 4 of them. So flipping adorable!