Thursday, January 28, 2010

Excuse me for a Minute

While I do this

There needs to me a WHOLE lot more education on carseat saftey out there.  What would possess someone to strap their children into a carseat, then not make sure that the carseat itself is buckled in to the vehicle???  I can come with several scenarios:  the carseats have to be moved from vehicle to vehicle and it was forgotten or just not buckled.  Pure laziness.  Lack of education.

Thank goodness the good Lord was watching over me and several other people this morning.  Due to road conditions, there was a accident where an older pick-up was T-boned by a car.  The occupants of the truck were a young mother and her 2 young children (ages 1 & 2).  After assessing to make sure everyone was okay I tried to calm the children.  As I was talking to them I noticed that the carseats were really loose - wait they weren't even strapped in!!!  THANK YOU LORD for watching over these children and not throwing them thru the windshield.

OHIO Laws:
* Infants (UP to a year old AND 20 pounds: should be REAR facing.  If you can extend that time, it is strongly encouraged.
* Children from 1 year (& 20 pounds) to 4 AND 40 pounds: FORWARD facing
* Children  4 yo (& 40 lbs) UNTIL 8 yo (& 4 ft 9 in) should be in a BOOSTER seat

PLEASE check your state's child restraint laws out here or here.

If you call, most local Police Departments & some Fire Stations will do a FREE child restraint check to make sure yours is properly installed.

PLEASE check your child's carseat EVERY time you put them in to make sure it is properly fastened. There should be very little wiggle when you push & pull the seat. I strongly encourage that when installing the seat, climb in your vehicle, place your knee into the carseat, pushing it into the vehicle seat, then secure the saftey belts. This ensures a nice, snug fit.

Your children will thank you for your love and concern.

5 comments:

Tracie said...

Whew! Thank goodness the kids were ok. That could have ended very badly.

Unknown said...

Oh Mary! I'm glad you were there to comfort those children! And thank you for the very timely reminder.

HeatherLynn said...

wow! the roads were a bit tricky in some spots this morning. one minute they were clear the next they were a sheet of icy/snow.

Glad everyone was alright.

including you!

I should get you a bumper sticker that says "precious cargo"

~hl~

Steph @ Steph Runs On said...

Thank goodness those kids were ok. There isn't anything that makes me angrier than improper carseat use. Because really, it's not hard, and a child's life is worth the time to do it right.

Tattoos and Teething Rings said...

I'm glad the little ones were OK. When my daughter was an infant and I was sleep deprived and depressed I accidentally put her in her carseat without buckling her or the carseat in! A double whammy!! When I realized (after driving to and from a nearby town) what I 'd done I broke down and cried. Then I told everyone I knew, cause I felt so lucky she was OK.