Keep Your Hands and Feet Inside the Vehicle At All Times....
I’m sure someone has already asked this question but I wasn’t around to hear the answer. It struck me this morning, as I followed a school bus in my neighborhood.(I just this very minute decided that I don’t like the word “development” to describe the community in which I live…so there.)
We, as a country, spend millions of dollars and year upon year, researching car safety for babies, toddlers and kids. Babies must ride in federally regulated car seats that face the rear of the vehicle at an exact angle of 72 degrees, secured by a saftey belt that is made of federally approved polyester/polypropylene fiber, weighing exactly 2.743 googagrams.
“Consumer Reports” dedicates entire issues to rating Infant Seats, Convertible Seats, Toddler/Booster Seats and Booster Seats. There are web sites dedicated to help parents understand, research, purchase and install a wide array of infant/child seats. Every manufacturer of child seats claims to be “the safest seat you can buy” or “ranked #1 by 'Consumer Reports'”.
A quick search on google for “infant car seat” will produce 562,000 hits….not including this particular post. A search for just “car seat” produces 3,080,000 hits.
Then we move onto seat belt safety. Let’s be honest, it is wisely the first thing a parent tells a child when said little boy or girl finally gets to sit on the actual seat that came with the automobile. In school, kids are taught “safety first”, "buckle up" and “always wear your seatbelt”. Even adults are now advised, “click it or ticket”. (Isn't it interesting that the adult version has to rhyme? What the hell.) I haven’t gone without a seat belt since I was 17. I can drive from one end of the mall to the other and still put my seat belt on...I am that programmed.
It’s an important subject and I, for one, am glad to see seat belts being taken so seriously. I honestly believe that they do save lives. Yes, we will always hear of those exceptions where someone was killed BECAUSE s/he had a seat belt on. For the most part, however, we’ve become pretty serious about it. I applaud that.
I vividly remember sitting in the front seat of my Dad's Plymouth, hanging on to the door handle, not wearing a seat belt and almost falling out of the car when I pulled up on the handle. I was wondering if it would open while the car was moving...it did. Thank God I kept a tight grip on the handle as my Dad reached over and pulled me in by my shirt. I was probably around 7 years old. We never told Mom. Dad forgets that it ever happened. Now we have car doors that automatically lock at 15mph. I take some credit for that.
Child safety in cars is clearly at the forefront of every parent’s concerns.
So why on Earth do we stress this message over and over to kids and then corral them into a big orange, square container that has not a seatbelt in sight except for that of the driver – the stranger to whom you’ve just entrusted your child’s life for approximately 180 days each year. I also read that seat belts will usually fit kids between the ages of 8 and 12 and, until that time, kids should be in booster seats so that the belt fits properly. Last time I checked, except perhaps in some remote parts of the world, kids started school – and started riding school buses - WAY before 8.
Like I said, I’m sure I’m coming late to this party and this has been debated before but I haven’t heard about it and it just hit me this morning….and confused the shit of me.
posted by Cherry Indigo (Cindy) @ 10/24/2005 01:02:00 PM
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