Pet Peeves: Kids in the Car

Note: This post may be offensive to some because I'm not going to sugar-coat my thoughts and I offer no apologies....consider yourself warned.

Every parent wants their kids to be safe at all times, especially when travelling. Society puts such great emphasis on child-safety in the car. When our kids are babies we go to such extremes to keep them safe. We buy rear-facing infant carseats and we make sure they are strapped in just right. Then we buy forward-facing carseats for our toddlers. After that we graduate to booster seats. We do all this to help ensure that our little ones will survive a traffic accident with little or no injury should we find ourselves in such an unfortunate situation. I don't know too many parents who do not take these precautions, not to mention, it is the law. But, what about when our kids outgrow the booster seat? Of course children need to be in seatbelts regardless of how big they are, but WHY are some parents dumb enough to think that if their kid is big enough not to sit in a booster seat then it is perfectly safe for them sit in the front seat of vehicle?

This absolutely drives me crazy! Sure, 25 years ago we all rode in the front seat, often times without wearing a seatbelt, and we all survived but times have changed. Our parents and grandparents didn't know any better, no one did. But now we do know, and yet there are still plenty of retarded parents out there that must figure the safety rules/laws don't apply to them, that they somehow have immunity. The front seat of a car is not an appropriate place for a child to sit. The American Academy of Pediatrics states, "Children who have outgrown their booster seats should ride in a lap and shoulder belt in the back seat until 13 years of age." AGE OF 13, people! Why do parents not get this? And why do they ignore it?

Brittany's Activity Days group is going on a little field trip tomorrow. One of the leaders stopped by this afternoon to get my signature on a permission slip so Brittany can attend. As the leader was leaving I said, "My kids are not allowed to sit in the front seat of the car so if there isn't room for everyone in the back and someone needs to sit in the front it can't be Brittany." The leader paused and said, "Oh really? Because my daughter (who is the exact same age as Brittany) always sits in the front." When she said this to me, what I was thinking was, "Well, I must love my kids more than you love yours." But what I said was, "Well, we don't let our kids sit in the front." I was really surprised that this other girl gets to sit in the front because her dad is a fire-fighter/EMT. Surely he's seen his fair share of car accidents in which kids were not properly restrained.

Anyway, this is such a simple thing. Serious injury can so easily be prevented. I hate hearing the excuse, "We're only going half a mile down the street so its okay if my kid sits in the front because its not very far." Does the fact that you're not going very far guarantee that you won't be in an accident? No. How about this one? "I'm being really careful when my kid is in the front." Great. You're being careful but what about the idiot on his cell phone that isn't paying attention or the stupid teenagers that drive too fast? You know, chances are you won't be in an accident BUT what if you are? Is it really worth the risk? If you have little kids, put them in a child-safety restraint appropriate for their age, weight and height. If you have a school-age kid, smarten up and keep them in the back seat and make sure they wear a lap AND shoulder belt and make sure they wear it properly. The above link to The American Academy of Pediatrics is a great resource if you're not sure what your child needs.