[akcskye]

Man, what could I have done?

Long story short, I called the police on the woman.

Why?

She was happily driving down the road while her 2 children, I would say no more than 2 and 4 years old, were happily standing on her back seat, window half open, waving to passers by.

She had NO clue the little one kept on getting further and further out the window, to one point, she was dangling by her tummy on it!

That's when I called the police.

I don't know if they cared enough to come out after her or not...had I not had an obiligation to be at, I would have stayed with her until they did.

Why do people have to be so ignorant??? It brought me back to the days of my miscarriages, and wondering why some women could have a bio child and treat their children a certain way, but not me.

Sound crazy?

Sorry for the rant...maybe it's all the stress I'm under healthwise.

[feelingreyt]

I will never understand why parents do not properly restrain their children in the car. Carseats/Seatbelts are to be used for a reason.....SAFETY!
She deserved have the police called on her!

[Gwen72]

As a medic, I have responded to numerous calls where the parent has done something at least neglectful and at most abusive. They get a royal rump chewing from me and I call child protective services on them.

[missw005]

This happened to me several years ago, when I first moved back to my hometown. (Very small, less than 7,000 people)
I was walking downtown with one of my foster children when I noticed a truck go by with a child standing in the middle of the front seat. The dad stuck his arm out to keep him from falling as he was going down a steep hill!
I knew who he was - the Fire Chief of our town!!! So I called the cops to report him, and there was a lot of hemming and hawing on the other end. I told them I don't give a da** who he is, his child is 2 years old and he's breaking the law! Let alone that as a foster parent, I'm a mandated reporter!
I don't know if anything ever happened to him, but like you akcskye, I was horrified that although I couldn't have my own child, this man (who was supposedly an upstanding, high-ranking man of the community) could just do whatever he wanted!!!
Still irks me to this day!

Good for you for calling the police.

Sandy

[Tigger2]

You did the right thing! Hopefully the police did follow up.
Sorry to hear you are so stressed- take care!!!

[paigeturner]

You absolutely did the right thing. These actions make me crazy as well. Last Christmas Eve I was running into the grocery store to grab a last second item. As I was locking my car door I heard a baby cry in the van next to me. I glanced in the front windows; no one was in there! I stood there for several minutes in 28 degree weather listening to the baby's cries get louder and more distressed. I waved down a man heading into the store and asked him to get the manager out. In the meantime I called 911. The police arrive, the store starts paging the parents...out he comes - a well known coach in town. Shocked that all this fuss happened over a few minutes when all he wanted to do was grab and bunch of flowers and not wake the babe.

As far as I know it was swept under the rug.

[KatiesEd-dad]

As a paramedic for nearly 18 years I've personally had to deal with the consequences of idiots like these on many occasions. As far as I'm concerned, no punishment is too severe. The only other things that drives me just as crazy is someone that leaves their kids in a locked car to go in the store.

Interesting side story - Several years ago I pulled into a parking lot to "sit point" at a local mall and noticed a 3 year old boy strapped into a car seat and locked in a minivan. It was about 75 degrees out and I was sure that the inside of the van was probably over a 100 degrees. My partner got on the radio and requested the police while I went to see if I could wake the kid up by knocking on the window. When the kid didn't respond I took a window punch to the side window so I could get inside. Sure enough it was really warm in there but luckily the little guy was just sleeping. He was hot and sweaty but appeared to be in pretty good shape. We took him to the ambulance to cool him off and waited for PD to show up (this is about 45 minutes into this). About then the mom shows up and gets about 10 ways to indignant with me about breaking into her car and stealing her son. I did something that I've never done before, I went off on this bit&* and finished by saying "and now Officer Jones will inform you of your rights and Michigan's statutes on child abuse and neglect." PD hooked her up and put her in the car and we transported the tot to the hospital. Don't know how it all turned out in the end but I didn't get called to court so I imagine she just copped a plea. I still find it hard to believe that she was actually pissed off at us.

[arkansas parent]

I am sick of the elementary teachers at school putting kids into their parents cars in the front seat. These cars have air bags. This is not where a 5yr old kid should ride. It is not like the parents are telling them to put the kid up front (but I am sure that is where some want their child) The teachers automaticaly reach for the front door . I finally got sick of telling them to put "A" in the back (where her carseat was at) I started keeping the passager (sp?) door locked.
They have only tried it once with"T",but I think the only reason they haven't done it more is because they always want to peek at baby "A"
I see very few parent that even make their children wear seatbelts. I have even seen a few drive with babies in their laps Just because they drive a truck or SUV does not mean their children safe without seatbelts/carseats.

[babydubs5]

My husband's SIL did that so often with her daughter when she was younger. It got to the point where the daughter (around age 2) would crawl out of her loose carseat buckles and sit on the seat, the floor, wherever she wanted. SIL let her. I refused to even get in a car with her (driving or passenger) because I Was afraid of being charged with child endangerment just for being in the car. SIL wouldn't listen to me about her needing to be in the carseat.

She's also the same SIL who put her 3 year old in a car with just a lapbelt instead of a carseat.

Some people just don't use common sense.

[akcskye]

My kids are 11 and 12, and both are my height (aka: adult size) and I STILL will not let them ride in the front seat.

I don't want that airbag going off in my face, let alone my kids!