To shout at the driver of a people carrier that had SIX children on board with NO seatbelts!

[ImMadMe]

he looked at me as if i was mad!

Not unreasonably no, but unless you're a policewoman there's not much you can do. (and not even then sometimes)

I hate seeing that.

This is a pet ahte of mine Its soooo selfish of the driver. it a "im alright jack" attitude. theyll not say that whe they crash and a kid goes flying through the windscreen whilst theve got their belt on, God forbid they get injured

They're just moronic.

I've seen loads of Asians driving round with their kids unrestrained, maybe it's a cultural thing. Last time I was at a traffic light behind a woman with 2 kids leaping around in the back and I knocked on her window to let her know her children "must have undone their belts while she wasn't looking". She didn't do anything, they were still leaping around when she moved off.

some folk don't deserve to have children

don't get me started. there is mum at school who has three los and all of them have car seats but are never strapped in. It makes my mind boggle and my blood boil . Several mums have complained to the head and also spoken to the nearly resident community police officer - who can do nothing unless the car is in motion [icon of my head spinning and steam erupting form all orifices!]

This really annoys me too, I have seen Grannies letting kids sit in the front seat unrestrianed because they are just popping down to school. We had to endure a patronising safety lecture at playgroup recently where the facilities manager(head janitor!) threatened to take the tables and chairs away in the waiting area because one of us (me) had let their child sit on a table and had been told on. Still fuming i went home to see a Dad leaving the car park with three year old loose in front seat, who was the really irresponsible parent.

mumblechum - please can i use your point?

Hi, I am writing a book on South Asians in the UK (British born or immigrants) and would like to hear of anything mumsnetters may want to share about South Asians (Indian, pakistani, Bengali) and their contributions to the society. You may want to email me if you dont want to post it here, it can be anything, interactions, observations, bad points, experiences. I've got some publishers in hand and was wondering if u wouldn't mind being being quoted, if it progresses into a book? please let me know either way, its a open look at society, so dont feel just because u have a negative comment, it might get misinterpreted. As i said earlier u can email me and i need a first name(u can make it up if u want) rough age and maybe ethnicity if relevant. but these will only be used with your quote if you give permission.Thanks

• mumbles u might be famous ....

YANBU

My parents always insisted on safety belts being used, even for the shortest of trips. We drove to Cape Town once for a holiday, and as we entered the town, there was a smashed up car, and my mum says she saw two little bodies on the dashboard. She said it obvious they were dead It blighted the whole holiday for her. There are reasons for these things.
Sadly, as others have said, not much you can do about it. i also feel the same when I see people driving while talking on their mobile.

It is a cultural thing when it comes to Indians - my dh is Indian btw.

I've never seen children or even adults wear seatbelts when I have been in India and babies are just held usually. I am sure there are some that wear seatbelts (just saying this in case I get flamed) but it appears that the majority don't.

I always belt up ds and myself, but dh's family appear oblivious to the dangers.

I always feel like I am putting my life in my hands if I am not wearing one.

oh this makes me so CROSS.

I have now been in three nasty accidents, none my fault, and all with at least one child in the car. now, without seatbelts I may have been telling a different story about my children.

in fact, the last accident DD1 was sat in the front, and had unclipped as she dropped my mobile and was reaching for it, and in that split second someone hit us head-on!! had she not been bent down, and me going slow (I was going 20mph according to the traffic police based on skidding etc at the scene), she would have gone thru the windscreen and possibly been killed. as it was, she suffered had a head injury (she still hit the windscreen and smashed it with her head).

I cannot understand why people take such risks with their children........and I would bet anything that the parents were clipped in!!!

YANBU imo, some people are feckless

I shouted at some moron using his mobile phone the other day, he didnt know which way he was going and nearly turned into me

YANBU at all.

Shout at the irresponsible idiot all you like! Hopefully you may have shamed him into thinking twice before being so reckless with his childrens safety.

I don't think it's a cultural thing with Indians any more than it was a cultural thing in the UK in the 70s; it's an educational/awareness thing.

I live in Dubai - you see this ALL THE TIME (sorry for shouting but...); big expensive Land Cruisers or whatever with a couple of kids standing up between the front seats - heads out of roof/windows/whatever, or jumping around in the back. Applies across all ethnicities though not as much among the 'Western' population.

And then you get the accident reports - such a baby was saved by 'the greatest sacrifice a mother could make'- the car went off the road, she was thrown out, holding baby, she died, baby survived. Well if you had both been properly belted in, perhaps the baby would have lived AND had a mother.

Whenever questioned, the answer seems to be 'he/she doesn't like it' referring to the car seat. Like any child does?