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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Why do perfectly intelligent people not put their children in car seats/seat belts?

59 replies

BigBellyCornflakeKid · 15/01/2007 14:21

I dropped my son at playgroup this morning and another mum pulled up with her twins (age 3) roaming freely around the car It is only 1/2 mile from her house - but what goes through your head when you put them in your car and not strap them in? There were car seats in the car but they weren't in them

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tubismybub · 15/01/2007 15:17

My SIL allows her 5 yr old to tuck the seat belt under her arm pit effectively making it a lap belt. This drives me nuts and I won't allow her to do it in my car which always goes down badly. My SIL also doesn't wear a seat belt herself if she riding in the back seat of a car as she thinks there's no need WTF!

LIZS · 15/01/2007 15:23

How bl££dy stupid ! Most accidents happen within 3 miles of home apparently. Last year it was reported another mum of twins allowed one to travel in the front unrestrained and she died when their car hit another car in poor visibility. Expensive cars and car seats are of s*d all use unless used correctly and strapping a child into their seat would be a very good start. Can you ask the palygroup to get hold of some ROSPA leaflets to hand out ?

kittylette · 15/01/2007 15:27

i hate it oo

my friends DS did this the other day, she has a 7 seater and he'd undon his belt in the very back seat, hes 3. BUt she stopped the car straight after noticing him, in the middle of the road, got out and was swinging for him through the window to put it back on! lol

she doesnt take any messing my mate

and have you noticed the people who allow theyr kids to roam about always have THEIR seatbelt on??

LizaLu · 15/01/2007 15:42

When our car got stolen people seemed genuinely suprised that I wouldn't accept lifts with the dcs because there wasn't child seats for them to go in. People who have children and have them in car seats but thought I could put 4yo in the adult seatbelt and 1yo on my knee to make life a bit easier while we didn't have a car.

poppiesinaline · 15/01/2007 15:54

makes me too. There is just no need for it.

poppiesinaline · 15/01/2007 15:55

yeah, I'm tucked in safely while I watch my child smash through the windscreen

Just no need...

Hulababy · 15/01/2007 16:01

OMG asleep - the boot?!

I know the Smart ForTwo is supposed to be very safe in all its tests, but that is madness. You don't buy a car that isn't big enough for your family, simple as that!

Original poster

BigBellyCornflakeKid · 15/01/2007 20:52

I think the child in the boot is worse than the two without seatbelts - like someone said atleast there was some chance she had strapped them in and they had escaped. I assume her boot has no seatbelts! Though I have to say - my parents used to put me in the boot when I was little - I was one of four and if we had friends round it was me who sat in the boot - in fact, worse than that - when we were coming back from Wales once across the old Severn Bridge, the boot opened and they made me lie across all the luggage and hold onto the boot door - didn't stop - waited til had got across - all I remember was looking at the road and hoping the boot didn't get caught by the wind! Think I was about 7 at the time!

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katylou25 · 15/01/2007 21:01

Was behind a car on the M4 the other day with a toddler lying across the back shelf above the boot of the car - WTF - would never ever go anywhere without my two (or anyone else fotr that matter) strapped in - hjave even argued with DH's mates about it won't start the car till they've done it - clunk click every trip! Did anyone else remember that from school??

It drives me mad!!!!

Glassofwine · 15/01/2007 21:06

A neighbour of mine, 4 children ranging from 9 - 5 in age never straps them in, I didn't know until my dd told me and she'd been in the car!!!

DaisyMOO · 15/01/2007 21:09

My friend and I nearly fell out because I wouldn't hold her 10 day old baby on my lap while she drove because she was worried he would cry in his car seat

flutterbee · 15/01/2007 21:13

I hate hate hate this. Not only are the children unstrapped but generally they are jumping all over the bloody place making the driving even more dangerous.

I just want to shout "stop the car you lazy bastards and strap your God damn children in"

Original poster

BigBellyCornflakeKid · 15/01/2007 21:16

OMG DaisyMOO - that is outrageous - I blame that slapper whatsherface - Spitney

OP posts:

whoopsfallenoveragain · 15/01/2007 21:17

I was stuck in traffic on Sunday alongside a car where the father was placing a coat over a child that was lying down on the back seat

Original poster

BigBellyCornflakeKid · 15/01/2007 21:29

Was the child being kidnapped or was he trying to hide the fact he had no seatbelt on?

at what point do you say something to a complete stranger? I would have to say something like 'oh my god, look, your children have escaped!' - I have said to someone who parked in a childs space at supermarket (with no child)- 'oh my god, you've forgotten your baby' - but that is another thread!

OP posts:

mumfor1standfinaltime · 17/01/2007 12:28

taxi seat belt law here!

It seems that taxis don't have to supply a car seat/or you supply one. I always thought a private hire cab would require you to use one, and a hackney cab (flag down taxi)didn't.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 17/01/2007 12:31

Another useful link here on car seat law!

sandcastles · 17/01/2007 12:44

Bet mum was strapped in, wasn't she?

mumfor1standfinaltime · 17/01/2007 13:10

Of course sandcastles, the adult always is no.1 priority!

Callisto · 17/01/2007 13:21

Some of these stories are outrageous. I am paranoid about strapping my dd in each and every time and about checking the seat is making the car wobble (p's dp off but it is so important). I wouldn't hesitate to take someones number down and report them to the police for not having their kids in the proper car seat.

calmontheoutside · 17/01/2007 13:30

What would make you more angry as a pedestrian - we walk EVERYWHERE and have been frequently tempted to stick our fingers up.A or B?
A - the unbelted children ( I hope the mother was also unbelted, it makes it ever so slightly less AWFUL) in a slow, careful car. Just hypothetical here.
B - the car full of belted up family hurtling along the road at xxmph over the safe stopping limit, in a built up area as if no-one matters apart from those in the car.
??Just curious.
Age 3, 1/2 mile - they should be walking! Unless they are strapped in, and unstrap themselves everyday because the mother has no control over them and spends her life in a state of flummox and flap. In which case I wouldn't want to be a pedestrian around her anyway.

Gemmitygem · 17/01/2007 13:36

just to add another perspective: it's so much part of the culture, if you think back to our childhoods (80s, or whatever), we weren't strapped in so much, and laws plus public acceptance of it have got tighter gradually over the years, but it's a constant struggle. Here in Kazakhstan, (Central Asia), no one has carseats or straps children in cars except expats, they just don't see the need. They have loads of road accidents and in the two offices I've worked in, one colleague was killed and another lost most of her family, plus I've been in 4 (minor) accidents here in 3 years. Yet people don't wear seatbelts... it's very strange! takes more than just fitting them to cars, that's for sure..

Peridot30 · 17/01/2007 13:47

This is my pet hate. It makes me so when you see kids not belted into cars! These laws are only here for everyones safety.

LIZS · 17/01/2007 13:58

It is a shame the govt didn't put as much money into a tv ad compaign for strapping kids in as it has for the pedestrian child. However presumably stats show a child is more likely to be affected as a pedestrian ? As these kids more often than not have carseats but are either loose or improperly strapped in (toddler in Maxi Cosi Priori with straps across her arms for example) presumably the parents are not ignorant of the Law .

riab · 21/01/2007 19:51

take your pick:
because they dont' have carseats that fit
because child has sicked up on carseat
because child has taken seatbelt off
because they don't give a toss if their kid dies
because they have bnever been in an accident or known anyone who has and so think its a very low risk
because they beleive their children are old enough to sit without a belt on
because they never wore belts when they were kids
because they are tired and couldn't face the argument

there's always a reason - you may not agree with it but you don't always know the whole story.
I've travelled with DS on my lap in the back of the car several times because of reasons 1 and 2.

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