To be shocked and disgusted at what I've just watched on BBC1 'Motorway Cops'

[cushioncover]

Just watched a police car stop a family. They had two children in the back, a 10mth old and a 4yr old. Neither the children nor the adults had seat belt on. Neither child was in a child seat.

He was cautioned and told he would receive a summons BUT he was then allowed to carry on his journey on the M6 with the kids in the back without car seat probably without even being strapped in.

Surely this cannot be responsible policing? Imagine an accident at 70mph where nobody including a baby and toddler are strapped in.
I know it's TV but this isn't fiction and I trully am upset and angry at this.

cc i love posters like you,start AIBU no one agrees get all arsey, and criticises the posters as spouting crap

Priceless

here is a wee tip

other's may not sing your sweet sycophantic song. cheery you are so right response

to be expected

When I lived in Belgium, I used to see a man on a bike, riding along with his six month old baby tucked under his arm. Baby was on the side of the road, rather than the path as well.

And SM, you are always on these threads saying to people,'oh you keep arguing your point regardless' and 'why will you not accept anyone else's opinion?'
Well, yes I am, but yes I will. Will you?

ahh the last chance salon unwarranted personal attack!Nice.Diddums do we disagrree with you

so you have a wee go at me
to prove how reasonable you are

Classy

have a friend whose MIL picked DS age 2.5 up from nursery , put him into car seat but forgot to strap him in

police car followed her 5 miles home before pulling up outside her home and telling her did she know the child was not strapped in - Granny mortified, genuine accident. Childs mum LIVID with police for not stopping her MIL driving all that way when they KNEW the child was not strapped in!!

the world is mad

and it makes me feel ill to see all these kids travelliong round not strapped in - too many people with the ostrich "head in the sand" or "it'll never happen to me" mentality

im sorry CC bu ti think you need to pull your head out of your arse and take a walk in the real world.

Well that was an interesting X post,SM.
Actually I think you have a chip on your shoulder and use MN to put the world to right as you see it and in your eyes put down posters you see as lame. Why don't you search back through your posts and see how tediously often you have posted in a similar vein.
I'm off to bed.

me think projection Darling!LOL touched a raw nerve?sign of a thread gone rotten turn on others

I also found this strange. I know car seats can't be kept in every police vehicle but in these kinds of programmes, I've often seen a second vehicle come out from miles away with facilities to transport one stray animal, so I would've thought the kids' safety warranted keeping a few car seats at the nearest station to be brought out as well.

a stray animal on a motorway could cause a massive pile up. it couldn't be left at the side of the road.

I a sure if you could persuade the rest of your neighbours to couch up and extra few hundred each year in council tax thepolice force would galdly drive around in people carriers and take 5 different car seast with them.

Sooo, what would you have the police do if the driver had no money for car seats - which are expensive (as the manufacturers are mainly profiteers eager to frighten people into parting with their money)?

You said it was not on your radar and that you had no interest in it about 3 hours ago so why keep posting other than to get your own egotistical point across? Really? Why bother other than to continue to say the same thing you always say to everyone. There was no rot at the beginning of the thread before you joined it.

Right really off to bed this time.

Give up his car.

not seeing the actual programme doesn't invalidate her from having an opinion on the discussion.

LOL you said you were off to bed doll!keep traipsing back though one final wee tap tap

not on my radar is dumbass cop shows being given disproportionate amount of yak by you

so they can all walk home..which of they were on a motorway could have been several hundred miles away.?

hmm what a lovely bubble you must live in

And the law WRT to car seats is ludicrous anyway: just claim it's a short unplanned journey without one and you are not breaking the law. Because, brace yourselves fuckwits, not everyone who has children HAS A CAR. So those of us who are carfree don't actually carry car seats on our heads every time we set foot out of the house; now and again we unexpectedly have to take our DC in cars. So we sit them on our laps or belt them in somehow and hope for the best. And usually get away with it. Given that use of car seats is a bit (though not actually that much) safer than not using them, most people who own cars and have children buy and use car seats. Most people who have children but don't have cars try to use car seats when possible, but when it's not, we don't actually need to be criminalised over it.

Another thought. Loads of people are saying stuff like "they can't just stop them continuing their journey"...what if driver was drunk, they wouldn't be continuing then - if kids found on own with one drunk parent/driver, no choice but to nick the driver and take the kids into temporary care, right?

Hit them in the pocket then they might think twice as obviously the thought of losing their kids due to irresponsibility not a deterent but the prospect of a financial penalty MIGHT help

OP you are def not BU, you have a social and moral conscience. Agree totally that driver and passenger (mother?) at fault BUT ALSO THE POLICE and I am NOT a police basher.

escort car off motorway, continue journey on lesser road, dep on length of journey, or get other vehicle out with car seats in/loan them some to be returned..?I agree solution is not simple or obvious but this problem is rife, and needs tackling

by the way i speak as one who has suffered the devastating death of a child, not car related, chromosome abnormality - there is nothing worse, but then, some people just don't realise how precious their kids are, and take all sorts of un necessary risks

and not being able to afford car seats is a myth, there are always loads up for grabs on freecycle, cheap in second hand ads, and cheap brand new in supermarkets!

Great post Loo! I agree with you. No easy answer but unacceptable.
Sorry for your loss.

Ah but the general advice (sorry, scaremongering from carseat manufacturers screaming bucketheads) is the it's WICKED and DANGEROUS to use any car seat other than a brand new expensive one. Because the world is so full of evil people who will sell you a faulty car seat that's been in a million accidents and you Just Can't Tell unless you pay much more money.

I think people were saying not being able to afford car seats there and then. As in being escorted to halfords.

Also what is this about "escort car off motorway, continue journey on lesser road"

How does that help?

And what about SGB's point about not owning a car so having to rely on other people. Who may be childless and therefore will not have car seats

Can anyone tell me what the thing about two girls walking in the Mway was alla bout please?
I read in the times TV mag a review of this and apparently this particular segment was an amazing story - but i missed the first fifteen minutes when it must have been shown and im dying to know what on earth could have got the reviewer so excited!

Oh and im with SGB - bugs me this car seat hysteria.
I just sit ds on a hay bundle in the back and he's mostly fine

Clicked on this fully expecting to go YABU but you are seriously not.

How any adult can choose to travel without a seat belt stuns me but to knowingly put a child in that much danger is beyond words and I'm all for taking a little risk in life.

The saddest part is, the children would most likely be hurt much worse than the adults