WWYD - neighbour not strapping kids in

[SunnyL]

I've just followed my neighbour in the car from the school to his house. It's a short distance (literally out the housing estate and down main street) but raining so most people drove today. Anyway as I pulled up behind him I noticed there was a child standing on the back seat waving at me.

When we got home (he's 2 doors along) I saw none of his 3 children were strapped in.

It made me sick to my stomach but I didn't say anything. Now I feel even worse that I didn't say anything. DH says I should steer clear to maintain decent neighbourly relations.

The man is a copy though. Surely if anyone knows the damage that happens to children in car crashes it's him.

Should I go round? Should I say something to him or his wife? Should I keep quiet.

I'm really conflicted.

nor would I think it at all likely that the children would be killed on the journey.

I'd agree it's not likely, but. Wearing seat belts is such a simple and easy safety measure to take, and the potential consequences of not wearing seat belts are so severe - increased chances of death and serious injury in the event of that unlikely crash - that choosing not to strap your children in on short trips, just because it's unlikely that there'll be an accident seems like a really stupid decision to me.

If it were me I wouldn't say anything, it's got nothing to do with me

I doubt that a trundle down the road once in a blue moon is really that big a "risk" unless he has to use a motorway.

I agree that it likely wouldn't matter, but I disagree that it's going to be "once in a blue moon". I got the impression from the OP that this is habitual. And that's a problem.

I don't understand why a short journey down the road would be less of a risk, it's not just about your driving.

No, it's also about other people's driving.

Why thank you zzzzz for explaining what a risk assessment should be based on, I had no idea.

It doesn't take long to strap in a child into a car seat or seat belt regardless of the journey time. The only reason I can think of for not strapping them in is lazy parenting.

Far more accidents within a mile of home than on the motorway (not least because of frequency but also complacency/fatigue etc).

There are seatbelts for a reason, they should be used.

How do you know They hadn't uncliopped themselves literally as he pulled up though?

That's where the dangerous-est places are. Not the same as where a given driver is most likely to have an accident.

Its an interesting twist that he is a police officer and seems to think he is above the law. Shocking really! Perhaps as pp said they may have unclipped themselves as they got close to home.

Accidents on motorways are likely to be more serious because the cars are moving faster, yes.

That doesn't mean all accidents in residential areas will be minor, low speed ones where you'd probably be fine whether you were wearing a seatbelt or not.

As a pp says, it's not just the road type, it's also the behaviour of other drivers on the road. You do get drivers who drive too fast and too recklessly in residential areas.
I saw one car speeding the wrong way down a one way street (only wide enough for one car to drive along) last week, for instance. That could have easily caused a nasty accident if a car had been driving up the correct way at the same time.

As I said before, it seems stupid to not use seat belts on all journeys, given how easy it is to put a seatbelt on, and how serious the possible consequences are, even if a serious accident on a residential road is relatively rare.