Back from vacation to the backcountry...

SO I preface this by saying that we were visiting in VERY rural Pennsylvania (think 45 minutes to get to a grocery store).

I was shocked (SHOCKED) by the gross lack of information. We had a family (DH's) reunion/cookout, which we do every year (it's a 5 hour trek from home). One of DH's cousins was watching her sister's (not related to DH - just follow me here, OK?) 3 girls - 4 years, 3 years, and 9 months - for the weekend. She drove up, and I walked out after the kids were out of the car, and she was holding the bucket - OLD evenflo 3 pt. bucket. Ya'll the straps were so loose, I was afraid this child was going to fall out WHILE THEY WERE WALKING UP THE DRIVEWAY. Fast forward to nighttime, they were getting ready to leave (the sister was there to pick them up - I had yet to meet her). I asked (well, I wasn't taking no for an answer) if I could tighten the straps - I pulled about 6 inches of slack out - THEY HAD NEVER BEEN TIGHTENED BEFORE - the strap had indentations from being in the same position for so long. I fixed the chest clip (it was on backwards and the wrong direction).

Then we went to the car. There were no seats for the older girls. Mom said that her husband had the seats in his car, but I don't believe her (she wasn't a very convincing liar). I told her that I tightened the straps, and why, and then watched her put the bucket on the seat, put the seatbelt OVER the seat, and buckle it in. She didn't have a base,but didn't thread the belt through then slots either (like you would do if you were installing without a base). She had ELR seat belts - the belt was, well, there for show, nothing else. it wasn't even touching the infant seat.

I had never seen something so terrible in my life. I was shaking from the thought of these little children in that car. My first thought - find out where she lived, and shuttle the girls one by one in my Marathon (they were TINY - both would fit RFing). DH literally grabbed me and said "this is how it is here, it's just the way it is".

So, I did the best I could: I had her move the crap in the back seat so that all three could sit in the back seat (there was a file box in the center postion, she had the 3 year old sitting in the front seat . I switched all the seatbelts to ALR, got the infant seat in (difficultly, since the baby was sleeping in the seat), and basicallt pinned the girls in the seats. I wouldn't normally do it, but it was 11:00, and I didn't know what else to do.

I searched, and I can't find any techs within a 3 hour radius (the closest being State College). I was looking, and I didn't see many car seats for ANY kids past the infant stage... I'm not really sure if there's anything I can do at this point...

And yes, I had nightmares last night.

That's not the way it supposed to be -- legally. I'd have called the police: PA has a booster law till 8 years old....

tarynsmum said:

DH literally grabbed me and said "this is how it is here, it's just the way it is".

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But it shouldn't be. Tiffany is right-- the law is the law.

that is sad. And the law states everychild not just ones that live in the city have to be in seats.

broken4u05 said:

that is sad. And the law states everychild not just ones that live in the city have to be in seats.

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:yeahthat: Exactly. EVERYONE has to follow the law.

I know, I know. In my area (we live in a suburb of Pittsburgh) I wouldn't hesitate to call the police (and have in the past). However, it's so far in the country, and she was only going a few miles down the road, and by the time I found the number for police (or even a phone, since no cell phones have service there, to call 911), she would have already been home.

It did give me a great opportunity to lecture the two pre-kids couples that were there (one's about a year into in vitro, one's just seriously dating) about car safety and CRS in general - no one could understand why seats expire, so I went over that about 5 times in the course of an hour (basically revolving around why manufacturers can't make a product that will last a child a literal lifetime - uh, yeah...)

I also told the sister (DH's cousin) that if she went to a seat check or called a CPS tech (I gave her one of my paTECHS brochures), that they would try to get seats for her if she needed them. That was before I realized that the closest techs were so far away - I might try to email them and see if any are willing to go that far. I did find 2 in New York that are only 2 hours away, so I might get in contact with them as well.

The problem (at least to me, besides the rampant lack of knowledge in general) is that half the area seems very disadvantaged, while the other half is very wealthy (one of the people at the gathering came showing off his new Mustang GT 500 - which cost him more than most of the people in the community make in 2 years)

I wish I lived closer - 5 hours is too far for me to make it...

However, it's so far in the country, and she was only going a few miles down the road, and by the time I found the number for police (or even a phone, since no cell phones have service there, to call 911), she would have already been home.

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The horrible thing is that most accidents happen within 2 miles of your home...
/shudder

Can you PM me the name of the town and/or the closest city name? I might be able to plan an appointment during a drive to NYC or DC....