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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

aibu to object to five people in a car for four?

49 replies

Jinglebells99 · 04/08/2014 14:51

My ds was invited on a day out with his friend and family. Was very excited about the trip. On the day i discovered they were planning on taking five people in a car that only seats four (only four seatbelts)The trip involved three hours in the car. I offered to drive them to venue as wasn't happy for anyone to be unsafe and i have a seven seater car but they said they would make other arrangements for the other person. My ds went on trip but when he returned i discovered that they had left the other person at home even though they had paid for a ticket for him. Anyway what do you think? Would you be happy for your child to travel like that in a very small car? apparently my ds would have had a seat belt. They had planned for his friend to be seated in middle. I'm talking tiny car but don't want to be too identifying.

OP posts:
Janethegirl · 04/08/2014 14:54

4 seat belts equals 4 persons in vehicle, in my book. Would not consider more people than seat belts ever. If for a shirt distance, people can walk.

Janethegirl · 04/08/2014 14:54

Short

BlackDaisies · 04/08/2014 14:54

No I wouldn't have been happy, or allowed that to happen either. It's unsafe and illegal. How odd that they turned down your offer of a lift!

JustSquirted · 04/08/2014 14:55

YANBU. An unsecured person turns into a loose missile in the event of an impact.

sausagefortea · 04/08/2014 14:55

Yanbu

PourquoiTuGachesTaVie · 04/08/2014 14:56

Yanbu I wouldn't let ds go anywhere with anyone like that. I have a mini which only has 4 seats and 4 seatbelts and I would never take more than 3 passengers with me. When I was growing up it was normal to put more people in the car than could legally fit (I even remember travelling in the boot occasionally!) and this was only in the 90s so maybe some people still think that's ok?

mum11970 · 04/08/2014 14:59

A 4 seater car is only insured for 4 people. I have a 4 seater, never put 5 people in it, even for a short trip.

pluCaChange · 04/08/2014 14:59

They sound like rubbish hosts. Inadequate transportation, and dumping someone with a ticket, even though there was an alternative... I'd avoid future days out with them, cut back, or try make sure I was going, too, so no-one is stranded!

ouryve · 04/08/2014 15:01

YANBU. 5 people in a car with 4 seatbelts is unsafe and illegal.

Original poster
Jinglebells99 · 04/08/2014 15:01

I think they probably turned down my offer of a lift because it would have meant me driving 90 mins there and then hanging around at the venue for two or three hours waiting for them and then driving 90 mins back. But i wouldn't mind doing that rather than having an unsecured child in the back seat. But I'm flabbergasted that they had planned to travel like that and i only found out by chance.

OP posts:
LeonardWentToTheOffice · 04/08/2014 15:02

Misty 70s memories of lifts with friends' parents with masses of kids stuffed in backs of Volvos or vans or even the fondly remembered holiday with our family of four travelling with another family of four in their Datsun - kids on knees etc. Not a seat belt in sight.

NO WAY WOULD I DO THAT NOW!!!! EVERYONE GETS A PROPER SEAT BELT, SEAT OR CHILD CAR SEAT WHERE NEEDED. NO EXCEPTIONS!! EVEN IF IT MEANS MISSING OUT.

LeonardWentToTheOffice · 04/08/2014 15:03

(yanbu!!)

Original poster
Jinglebells99 · 04/08/2014 15:09

Felt really uncomfortable saying i wouldn't be happy for anyone to be unsafe, when the mother was happy for her child to be unsecured. It's mad.

OP posts:
Charlieboo30 · 04/08/2014 16:07

A family member of mine was recently in a horrible car accident. There was only her in the car but she drove a four seater. The police were amazed she walked away with minor injuries given the state of it.

What has this got to do with the OP I hear you ask? When she went to collect her stuff out of it at the police compound, there was an identical car to hers which had been involved in an accident but just had minimal damage. All the people in that car were killed due to them squeezing five people in. So sad.

I drive an AYGO and it only has four seats. There is no way I would take anymore than that.

Dunkling · 04/08/2014 16:26

I agree with you Op, YANBU.

When my children were small and being offered trips and lifts, of course I could be there to send them on their way most of the time, but I told them if ever they were offered a lift home etc, if there was no seat belt for them, they were not to get in.

downperiscope · 04/08/2014 16:31

n

downperiscope · 04/08/2014 16:32

nope, YADNBU. like a previous poster i used to have an AYGO and c

downperiscope · 04/08/2014 16:34

nope, YADNBU. like a previous poster i used to have an AYGO and constantly had the ILs expecting me to accommodate an additional person. obvs got a bad rep for this but every single time they would suggest it i explained how having 5 people in a 4 seater car invalidates your insurance in the event of an accident.

sorry for the dud posts above, must try harder.

HappyAgainOneDay · 04/08/2014 17:22

LeonardWentToTheOffice

Yes, I remember that. We had a Vauxhall Viva and I transported primary school children to the swimming baths. Two sat on the front passenger seat and I had six or seven in the back. They fitted in by the first one in sitting with his or her bum at the back of the seat, the second one with bum at the front of the seat and so on. I wouldn't do it now but isn't a Volkswagen Golf smaller, anyway?

SistersOfPercy · 04/08/2014 17:28

I'd be interested to know the make of car. I drive a Fiat 500 and thats only 4 seats, though fitting anyone who isn't very small in the back is almost impossible anyway. 4 seater cars seem to have become much more popular again with small 'city' type cars like the 500 and the Aygo mentioned above.
YANBU at all.

Original poster
Jinglebells99 · 04/08/2014 17:45

It was a mini cooper.

OP posts:
SistersOfPercy · 04/08/2014 17:49

Didn't realise they were 4 seater, thanks Jingle, always worth bearing in mind.
5 people in a small mini, the mind boggles.

HaroldLloyd · 04/08/2014 17:49

I didn't even know there were cars with only 2 belts in the back.

Every day is a school day.

You offered to drive them, not sure what else you could do really..

HerRoyalNotness · 04/08/2014 17:50

No way at all, YANBU. No seat/seatbelt = no ride.

HappySeaTurtles · 04/08/2014 17:51

My ds went on trip but when he returned i discovered that they had left the other person at home even though they had paid for a ticket for him.

Wait. So he was buckled up then since there were only 4 people, not 5?