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

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

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.

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

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).

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.

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)

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.

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

Jampots

I totally agree.

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