How sad.........3 boys dead, 4 critical...............

[Gwenick]

on their way to celebrate their friends birthday party

here

But why did the women have 7 boys plus herself in a 5 seater car

[MumOf10]

Jampots

I totally agree.

That is probably exactly what the woman who crashed was thinking, if she was even thinking anything!!

[jampots]

Am firmly of the opinion that many people take the "wont happen to me" stance on life. Sadly it can happen to anyone!

[jampots]

My friend over the road has 2 dds and 2 step daughters plus her partner and this has been their situation for 8.5 years now yet they've only just bought a 7 seater car!!! I couldnt look at them squeezing in whilst they were off on a family day out/holiday. I think they even went to France in the 5 seater and they ain't small kids.

[AtHomeMum]

Caligula, i think you are so right. Every day at school i see small children been driven home in the front seat. The seatbelts not only have to be present, but correctly fitted, with a booster seat or child seat. Also many mums will squeeze in an extra child to take home for tea. I am always very careful about cars & my children. I will not let them go in cars driven by drivers i don't consider compitent (I make an excuase & take them round myself). My brother's best friends lost their child 18mnths in a car accident, driven by a teenage nanny. This has dramatically affected my approach. (happened just after birth of my eldest)

[Caligula]

I think part of the problem is that we are all so laid-back about any danger connected with cars. People really aren't informed enough about how dangerous things are, and the punishments for crap driving are either non-existent or so light, that none of us really take it seriously. I had no idea that overloading a car was so dangerous until about fifteen years ago when a bunch of teenagers near me all got killed because there were six of them in the car and it affected the balance - when the driver went to turn left, the car simply overturned. There was quite a lot of technical description at the time, which is why it stuck in my mind.

And on Sunday I was on a motorway and there were people travelling at about 80mph with about 2 metres in between themselves and the next car, meaning the absolute certainty of a pile-up in the event that anyone had had to stop suddenly. You can bet your life that some parents who are happy to allow their precious children to sit into an overloaded car, would never dream of allowing their child to cross the road on their own before the age of 11, or go out in the sun without a sun-hat. Being a car passenger appears to be some kind of enormous blind spot where safety is concerned.

[pabla]

We were visiting family at the weekend and called in to see a friend (who is a gp btw.) She asked us if we would mind dropping two of her kids somewhere on the way back to my mums house - dh pointed out that we didn't have any spare seats (five of us in a five seater) but I sort of got the impression she would not have been bothered if we had agreed to take them . Unfortunately this sort of attitude seems to be common where my parents live - earlier that day I had seen a two seater van with two adults seated plus a child standing up in front of the front passenger. A couple of years ago I saw a car travelling at speed with the kids standing on the back seat with their heads out through the sunroof. The irony is that in legal terms, I think seatbelts were compulsory there before they were here and they are a lot stricter (in theory) about where kids can sit in the car (i.e. not allowed in the front).

[MissSunshine]

I live 5 mins away from this tragic scene and my niece went to school with one of the boys.

From what i gather the parents would have been aware the overloading of the car, as the birthday boys mum went around and picked the boys up from the home - and yes it is true there were 3 in the front seat.


Very irresponsible and something i don't think these poor families will ever come to terms with

Lynne

[OldieMum]

I think one lesson here is that we can't assume that our children's friends' parents will act sensibly and not overload their cars when ferrying children around. We have to impress on our children not to agree to get into a car where there are more seat belts than passengers. And that they should not be embarrassed about refusing to do so. DH's ex-wife used to be adamant about this when his step-children were involved and felt no embarrassment about asking their friends parents who would be driving and how many seat belts there would be. She was right.

[sandymogs]

I was wondering whether the parents were aware that this woman was taking all these children in the one car to the party.

[shalaa]

Erm am I meant to be answering that?? I was just clarifying what Tallulah said, you can't have 8 people wearing seatbelts when it's a five people car. In no way did I say or suggest that the mother was being sensible in driving 8 boys.

[MumOf10]

Well Shalla,

Why was she taking 8 children in a car if it was only had 5 seats.

Very irresponsible.

[scottishmumto1]

if its a 5 seater car then you're only allowed 5 people in it, not 8, 1seat/1seat belt/1person, there's not many cars on the road now without seatbelts fitted, I for one would not buy one, I certainly wouldn't take kids in one

[Xena]

I get very annoyed about the seatbelt thing too, what the hell are they doing with 8 people in a 5 seater car??

[shalaa]

Scottishmum, I think Tallulah was just saying that you can only strap in 5 people if there's only 5 seatbelts, therefore it was impossible for all the boys to be wearing seatbelts.

[Caligula]

SMT1, what Tallulah was saying was that where there are no seatbelts fitted, you obviously don't have to wear them.

There are still cars on the road which do not have seatbelts fitted. Very old now, but there are still some. That's one of the reasons the speed limits and braking distances still apply - because although most modern cars will brake much much earlier than the official braking distance, laws have to be geared towards the cranky old vehicles which do take ages to brake and which would be extraordinarily dangerous if they went at 80mph.

I just get very angry with this sort of story because it was all so avoidable. 8 people in a five vehicle car on a motorway is an idiotic idea. And presumably the subsequent pile-up happened because of not observing stopping distances. Otherwise, the people in the cars behind would have time to brake. Bloody awful for everyone concerned.

[scottishmumto1]

tallulah

which planet are you on

yes yes yes every one has to wear a seatbelt

how irresponible if you dont

[SoupDragon]

You are only allowed to carry as many people as there are seats/the car was designed for. To carry more is illegal and probably invalidates your insurance.

Seatbelts are compulsory where fitted.

[misdee]

i think overloading a car is against the law tho.

[tallulah]

Its not strictly true that everyone in a vehicle has to wear a seat belt. The last time I checked it was that all seat belts had to be used.. When you have 8 people in a 5 seater (and 5 seat belt) car you have 3 people who can't be strapped in.

[scottishmumto1]

yes you do have to wear seatbelts, everyone in a vehicle does.
this story is just terrible. what was the mother thinking of. she needs to be charged, even though she will punish herself for the rest of her life. we all know in this day and age what seatbelts are for.
i wouldnt move 2 feet without mt dd being securely strapped in.
prayers to the families of th echildren who lost their lifes and the ones that are injured

[albert]

I thought the law states that you HAVE to wear seatbelts! I'm not in England so might be wrong.
I read about this tragic story yesterday and cannot even begin to imagine how dreadful the families must feel. It is so so sad. DH said if anything like that happend to DS he would kill himself!

[MarsLady]

I get so cross about the seatbelt issue. I don't drive and when my kids go in other people's cars I make sure that they are belted up. They know to do it automatically and sometimes I find it's the ones who have been driven everywhere that don't use their seat belts.

It's so sad that those people have lost their lives and families over something that may have been prevented.

[feelingold]

This is so so tragic.
My dh is a firefighter and has been to so many RTA's where peoples lives have been saved by wearing their seatbelts and seen people killed because they were not.
Please everyone, lets all learn from this and make sure that we all tell our families and friends how important it is we all wear them everytime we go out in our cars.
I also would not let my kids go in a car or a bus where seatbelts were not available.

[ChaCha]

This accident happened very near my home - Its awful. I can't imagine the loss. A friend and I were just discussing this last night. Nothing in life is that important, we just don't know our fate. Those poor kids.

[WestCountryLass]

According to the report I read, three of the boys were in the front seat