Going Political
If you’re my friend on Facebook, you’ve probably already seen my post encouraging you to contact your local representative in regards to House Bill 113. What? You haven’t heard about it yet? Take a minute to read it. It’s not long. It’s not even all that jargony. In a nutshell, it gives legal permission for parents to make their children less safe in the car.
It makes my blood boil. It makes me want to shout from the mountaintops to parents everywhere “Educate yourself! Get invovled! DO NOT let this bill pass without your voice being heard!”. Initially, it seemed so absurd that I couldn’t fathom that it would get very far. Today, I learned that MY local representative voted in favor of it. The candidate that I voted for is now voting against the safety of our children. WHAT?!? I was so disappointed, and I took the time to write a note to let him know.
Thankfully, whether it passes or not, I am still the parent at my house. I am still the enforcer of the rules that every child that rides in my car will be properly restrained at ALL times, whether they are my child or not. Thankfully, the law will not change the way things are run in my car.
What is unfortunate though, is that there are parents out there who will be relieved if this law passes. It will mean that carpooling will be easier for them. It will mean that a trip to the grocery store will be less hassle when they take the kids along. It will mean that the quick jaunt to the church down the road will just be that much quicker. It will mean that the attitude of “We’re not going that far” will be backed up by the law. There is SO much evidence of the importance of kids being properly restrained in the car, and it makes me SO angry that our elected officials are disregarding that evidence for the sake of convenience. As a caller on the Doug Wright Show said this morning “If you want your life to be convenient, don’t be a parent”.
I don’t want to come across as a know-it-all when it comes to carseat safety, because I’m not. I have made my fair share of mistakes. But, I have also chosen to educate myself and make corrections when necessary. I know that I have stepped on toes when trying to share my opinions on the importance of the proper use of child restraints, because nobody likes to be told that their child isn’t as safe as they could be (I felt that way at first too). I know that there are plenty of people who think it’s crazy that I continue to have my 5 1/2 year old ride in a 5-point harness carseat, but that’s the decision that I know is safest for him. And it’s a decision that I could only make by being educated.
So, what can you do about it? First and foremost, get educated about the importance of child restraints. Whether this bill passes or not, the knowledge that you gain will be invaluable. A good place to start is http://car-safety.org/. There is a wealth of information there to help you make the safest choices for your kids when it comes to riding safely in the car.
Second, contact your local representative and let them know that you want them to vote against the bill. I have no doubt that if you take the time to learn a little bit first, you will see the absurdity of what is being proposed. If you don’t already know, you can find out who your representative is HERE. It only takes a minute or two to write up a short email. To my neighbors–OUR representative is in favor of this bill. Let him know that that’s not OK with you.
Third, get the word out! I’m not the most politically-minded person, but I’m also not living under a rock. We can’t leave it up to our elected officials to make the decisions that will be in our best interest if we don’t know what’s going on….now that you do know what’s going on, share it with others. Link to this post on your own blog. Send an email to your friends and family. Talk to your neighbors. Do your part in keeping our kids safe.
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Ugh. Thanks for getting the word out. As a person who has been in accidents less than 4 miles from my home (duh, people can still run stop signs and red lights and drive drunk no matter where you are), I think that having your kids in proper restraints seems like a no-brainer.
I was also surprised at that bill. My 5.5yr old is also still in a 5pt harness almost all the time. When I have a couple extra kids in the car (I do childcare and have to run a 5yr old to kindergarten, and 2 of those days I have another little one too) he has to be in a simple booster and it always makes me nervous. And it makes it worse that the other 5yr old (also in a booster) is constantly saying his seat is a baby seat, grr. But I do everything I can to keep them safe and it drives me nuts that other parents don’t care so much about it. Today at the kindergarten drop-off I saw a little girl hop out of the front seat and her sister (maybe 4-5 at most) hopped up into the front in her place and did not put a seat belt on and the dad just drove off like that.
I have always had a problem with kids not being safely restrained in cars. I told my 6-year-old that NO, he couldn’t ride with his uncle/aunt and cousins, because my brother wouldn’t let me put his booster seat in their car.
So many times people have said to me “does Wesley really need his booster? Can’t he just wear a seatbelt? It’s not that far.”
“NO.” He is MY child and if something happens because he’s not restrained properly, I don’t want to be able to blame someone for his death/getting hurt, or wonder what might have happened.
And I have always said that when a child dies in an accident due to a parent not properly restraining them in a car, that THAT parent deserves ALL the guilt they feel, and that YES, IT IS THEIR FAULT.
Thanks Jenn. I’m going to look into this more.
Someone once told me, “Oh, just hold your child while you drive through the deserts of Nevada. The roads are straight.”
I was like, “are you kidding me? No way will I ever do that!”
Unfortunately, they weren’t kidding. It’s been interesting (and sad) to see how many times I have had to stand up for myself about putting my 6 month old in a carseat. What are people thinking???
Take a deep breath already! I didn’t see anywhere in this bill where it mandates that parents MUST NOT put their children in “proper” restraints. Kudos to parents possessing sense enough to do it. Shame on those who don’t. But why is it that we espouse the virtues of living in a free society, yet beg the government to mandate behavior at every turn? We teach free agency in our religion, and consider it a vital part of our progression. Let’s see……my generation grew up without even seatbelts in cars. Your generation grew up with limited, if any child restraint devices. Yet despite being put at risk, we have survived to bring up another generation. Let’s be grateful that technology has given us tools to make our children safer. Let’s be grateful we can have the good sense to use them. Let’s be grateful and celebrate our freedom to make that choice.
Debating politics with my Daddy-O….that will require deep breathing exercises for sure
You’re right that the change to the law does not require that I no longer use proper restraints in my car, which is why I pointed out that regardless of what happens with it, things in MY car won’t change.
WE may have been lucky enough to survive a time when seatbelt use was not common, let alone child restraint use, but that doesn’t mean it was a safe way to travel. I’m sure there are numbers floating around estimating the number of children that might still be with us today had the technology we have now been available back then. We didn’t know any better back then….we do now. We should count ourselves very lucky to have survived….too many other children did not.
I agree that agency is an important right to protect. But the fact that it’s commonplace to see kids prematurely taken out of 5-point harness carseats and placed in boosters and then prematurely taken out of boosters and put in just a seatbelt tells me that parents aren’t using that agency wisely. The lack of education when it comes to child passenger safety is astounding to me….how can we expect parents to use their agency to make wise choices for their children if they don’t even know what the safest options are? If they had that information, and made proper choices based on it, then you’re right–there would be no need for the government to mandate their behavior. Unfortunately, though, that’s not the case. And because it involves the safety of our kids, I think it’s fair for the government to step in.
When it comes to the argument of agency, I can see having a discussion as to how it relates to the law as it currently stands (though it still doesn’t hold much water to me because it involves kids….use it on the seatbelt law if you don’t like your behavior mandated). It does not make a bit of sense to me when it comes to the proprosed ammendments to the law. I wonder what kind of research Representative Herrod did when drafting the changes? Does he actually have evidence that shows that kids are just as safe traveling within 4 miles from home without a booster seat? Or did he take out a map and compass, start drawing a radius from his home, and come up with 4 miles because it included his kids’ school, church, Walmart, and McDonald’s….all the places that people seem to need to survive these days? All of the accidents I’ve been in were well within 4 miles of my home, and had Ryan not been properly restrained in the last one, he would have been very injured. What makes 4 miles the magic number? What makes going to a school or church activity safer than any other destination? What made him decide to cap the speed at 45 MPH? That’s a very fast speed to traveling during an accident….and every child deserves the maximum protection available at all times so they have a chance to walk away without serious injury should they be in the car when an accident occurs. How do we expect to raise kids who will be safe drivers when we aren’t consistent about the rules in our own cars? There is so much evidence AGAINST the proposed ammendments to the law….yet I haven’t heard a single argument for it that makes any sense.
If nothing else, I hope that raising awareness of the issue makes people stop for a minute, do a little research, and take a look at their own choices in regards to properly restraining their kids. I dare say that many eyes will be opened and, hopefully, changes toward safer practices will be made.
Jenn and I talked about this last night. I think that it’s good to a law mandating anything is right, weather it’s mandating child restraint usage or maximum blood-alcohol content to drive. But once we decide to make a law mandating seat belt usage, it seems pretty rediculous to say “but in these circumstances we’ll look the other way”.
Besides, honestly, this law would be very hard to enforce and seems like a big ol’ fat waste of time considering some of the very important issues facing our state and country… I’d prefer they focus on more productive stuff…
It’s one thing to talk about freedom and agency when you’re only making decisions about yourself. The state has more right to be involved when it’s a decision made for someone who can’t help himself (the child).
I haven’t checked your (or anyone’s for that matter) blog in about a week, so I missed this. I have to say that:
#1- I agree with Joe. This is really something super silly to be wasting time on when there are so many “real” problems facing the state.
#2 – My favorite thing (note the sarcasm) that came out of the hearing to present the bill was the ER doc who said he’s sick of people coming into the ER following a crash who’s kids were not put in their seat correctly and therefore suffered injuries. Really? Were they less hurt than if they’d not been in a seat at all? Were they still breathing? Fact of the matter is, a kid can be ejected from a car, or thrown around like a rag doll if not restrained…4 miles from home or not, 45 mph or not. It makes me kind of sick seeing a mess load of kids over at the school piling out of a van or SUV knowing that there are probably one or two more smaller kids in there hence at least 2 of the ones that came out were in no kind of seat belt whatsoever. (there you go, that’s my soapbox)
#3 – Quite honestly, I think the people who are going to keep their kids in a proper restraint for the recommended amount of time will continue to do so and those people who think it’s fine for a 4/5 year old to be in a regular belt will continue to do so. It’s just what happens with agency.