To Have Horrified By This And Refused To Get In Car?

[GoldenGytha]

I was out for lunch today with a friend, her niece and niece's two boys aged 4 and 1.

It was about a 20 minute drive along the dual carriageway to the place we went to for lunch, but after that friend's niece wanted to go to Matalan for some clothes for a forthcoming holiday.

When we got back into the car after lunch, Matalan was about a 5 minute drive back along the dual carriageway and niece told the 4 year old to just sit in his seat and not bother about his seatbelt as it was "only a couple of minutes along the road" She also didn't strap the baby into his seat.

I said "You can't do that, you must strap them both in, it's not safe" I was rather abruptly told that it was not my business, they'd be fine for all the distance they were going. I said I couldn't get in a car where a child wasn't safely strapped in, and that I was very uncomfortable with it.

After a lot of muttering and "FFS Golden, what a fuss to make about nothing, are you always this bad, and if it makes you fucking happy I'll strap them in"

I don't normally go about telling folk what to do with their kids, but this really shocked me, WIBU to have said something?

[BikeRunSki]

OP you did the right thing. I recently rang the non emergency police number to report a driver who had 3 unrestrained children in his car. Youngest was about 12-18 months and didn't even have a baby seat.

[MooMaid]

^^ha ha

[PoundingTheStreets]

Most accidents happen at the beginning or end of a journey, so a short distance makes no difference at all to the risk of being involved in one.

Anyone not wearing a seatbelt in a car accident at which at least one vehicle is going 60mph will probably be a fatality.

If the OP's friend was caught by the police, she'd probably have got a £100 fixed penalty fine, although if it went to court the fine could be as much as £500.

Why on earth would anyone risk a death or a £500 fine for the sake of the 30 seconds it takes to put on the seatbelts!

[harriet247]

Youre absolutely in the right OP

[EverythingsDozy]

Do you ever remember the clunk click advert where the boy without a seatbelt on flew through the window and turned into an elephant? It was to show the force you go through the window at (as far as I know, nobody actually turns into an elephant when in a car crash). I used to be terrified of that advert thinking I would turn into an elephant if I didn't wear my belt! Perhaps show her that?

[AskBasil]

She's an arse and YANBU

[MooMaid]

OP I can't think of any of my friends who'd do this. YANBU

[WutheringTights]

DH has always complied with the car seat rules but used to get huffy about me insisting on one of us double checking that the straps are tights etc, as he is a very careful driver and never had an accident etc. Once I pointed out that he has no control over the other idiots on the road and it just takes one person playing silly beggars and DS could be killed or seriously injured he changed his tune. I genuinely think he'd never thought of that before.

[AnonyMan]

If you were the driver, then you were not unreasonable, it is your legal responsibility to ensure all children wear seatbelts/use child seats.

If you weren't the driver, then you were unreasonable and don't understand risk. To make up a number, I'd guess the probability of injuries that would have been prevented by a seat belt was less than one in ten thousand. I suspect that lots of reasonable things children do are going to be more dangerous than riding in a car without a seatbelt for a few minutes.

[AnyoneforTurps]

Your friend's niece (and Julia) have presumably never seen a baby who has been ejected from a vehicle at 70 mph. Unluckily for me, I have

YANBU, YANBU, YANBU - well done for having the guts to stand up for the kids, even though it was socially awkward.

[KatieKaye]

You were totally right.
Some people do not have any sense.
I had a huge problem getting my dog harness back from a "friend" who was adamant that if I just trained him (aka hit him into submission) he wouldn't need it. the fact that an unrestrained dog in a car is downright dangerous at any time, far less in an accident seems to have escaped her.

[SueDoku]

I've been very, very insistent about seat belts ever since my best friend's Mum was killed when I was 12 (a very long time ago). She was in the front passenger seat when their car hit the parapet of a bridge, and was thrown through the windscreen onto the road below and killed because she wasn't wearing a seat belt (in the days before they were mandatory)

I've never, ever travelled in a car, or allowed anyone to travel in my car without a seat belt since...

[AskBasil]

Yeah, but if you happen to be that 1 in 10,000 then the consequences are 100%.

And why would you be such an arse as to take that risk with a child's life? Take the 1 in 10,000 risk yourself if you won't, don't take it on behalf of a child. Adults are supposed to protect children. If you see another adult not doing so and you're in a position to challenge them, it's perfectly OK to do so.

[AskBasil]

I simply have no idea why anyone would bother to take the risk, just for the sake of saving 10 seconds.

[KatieKaye]

AnonyMan - I am old enough to remember the days before seat belts were obligatory. And old enough to remember my friend having an horrendous accident where she went through the car windscreen and suffered horrific facial injuries.
You are talking complete and utter rubbish. Seat belts save lives. End of. Stop making things up and apply a little common sense. I've rarely read such total tosh.

[GoldenGytha]

I was always very insistent about my own DC wearing belts properly when they were in the car, no matter the distance,

I've never travelled in a car myself without putting my belt on, it's just something I would never have thought of not doing,

Friend's niece drives everywhere and I hate to think of those wee boys not being strapped in properly.

[DioneTheDiabolist]

Anonyman to make up a number, I'd guess that the probability of meeting someone stupider than you is less than one in ten thousand.

OP YWNBU. When DS was 3yo he was in a stationary car that was rear-ended. We had to go to A&E for bruising to his chest caused by his harness. Had he not been belted in, I would have been identifying his body in the morgue that day.

[Juliaparker25]

FFS you lot have screwed priorities , people are dying left right and centre , in Ukraine , Syria , you name it and you suburbanites are worried about a car seat ...........Give me strength...........

[ThatBloodyWoman]

But why not take safety precuations when they are there Julia?

Not doing so won't help all the terrible things that happen globally.

[nennypops]

Julia, people are dying left right and centre on Britain's roads. Doesn't it bother you if that includes children who would live if their stupid parents had made sure they were strapped in?

[buttercrumble]

Good for you I would have felt the same, An accident can happen in a split second and destroy lives forever.

[nennypops]

Tell me, Julia, if you care so much about the people of Ukraine and Syria, why are you wasting time trying to wind people up on Mumsnet?

[LottieJenkins]

I was in the back of a Morris Traveller as a child. My friends brother was driving me home from school. We met a tractor on a blind corner. The car had no seatbelts and the seats tipped up. I was thrown from the back into the front when he braked and i hit my head on the dashboard!
I always make sure ds2 is wearing a seatbelt in the car!