Could have been a carpool disaster!

mainemom

New member
4 kids in 3rd row-Could have been a carpool disaster!

I got a real scare when I picked up my ds after a school outing today. We have been booster training for carpool purposes. He is still harnessed in our cars (7yo). Since he is new to riding in a booster, we go over the rules beforehand and I ask questions afterwards so I can make sure he is riding properly and safely. I was shocked at what I heard today.
He told me he was outboard in the 2nd row of a older Suburban and said, yes, he had the shoulder belt in the right position. I asked if the middle child had a shoulder belt too or just a lap belt and he said, just a lap belt. I was telling him he could never ride with only a lapbelt and he confessed that he (working with the boy in the middle) had not been able to get his belt buckled so he was unrestrained.:eek: Then he told me there were 4 kids in the third row. Now I don't know Suburbans but I am pretty sure there are not 4 seatbelts and that there are only 2 shoulder belts. All 6 of the kids are 6-7 years old. And there was a horrible wreck this evening 2 miles from the site of the school outing. I shudder to think what could have happened!
Since the school had quizzed me when I volunteered to chaperone about the number of shoulder belt in my car, I thought they were paying attention to car safety. (I will be talking with the school tomorrow.)
When booster training, one thing I hadn't really thought about is helping my son learn to advocate for his own safety with adults. He is kind of shy around adults he doesn't know well and this really brought that home to me. They shouldn't have to be the ones but sometimes our kids have to know how to help keep themselves safe, even when adults don't.
He hasn't riding with others very much and this experience isn't helping me feel very comfortable about letting him. I still feel sick when I think what might have been...
(Sorry for the length but I needed to tell people that I know understand why I am so freaked out.)
 
Last edited:
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jasminegrl

New member
i would have been livid that the school didn't make sure my kid was properly restrained on a school trip. if i had the capability i would make sure that i was the only one to drive my kid from that point on. And to put 4 kids in a 3 seatbelt back seat is just plain old negligent imo
 

mainemom

New member
Yes. I have been alternating between outrage and fright. He knows he is not riding with that family again. We will figure out how to transport ourselves.
Am I right that there is no way there could have been 4 seat belts in the 3rd row? And is a lapbelt only illegal or "just" potentially deadly?
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Lap belt only is not illegal in most states; in many it's an exemption to the child restraint laws even since boosters can't be properly used there. It's just unsafe.

A Suburban will not have 4 belts in the back, no. Unless they did something very very unusual like getting a fourth-row van seat put in in place of the third row seat but I'm not even sure that can be done. Much less be safely done.

It's very, very likely there were unbelted children or children sharing belts back there if they stuck 4 in the back.
 

mominabigtruck

New member
Was it a carpool or a school field trip? If it was a field trip then why were they riding in a parent's vehicle instead of a bus? Our school doesn't have it's own bus but they use the city school buses when they have a field trip. I would not let my kids go somewhere if it was riding in someone else's vehicle that I didn't know.
Posted via Mobile Device
 

mainemom

New member
It is a private school so there are no buses and staff and parents transport when needed. We've done most of our transport ourselves before. Yesterday morning there were only 4 kids signed up to go and that ratio would have been fine - if an adult had checked to make sure kids were buckled in!
I know the parents as people but didn't know their vehicle. Now I want a tour of everybody's car before my child rides with them.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
My district growing up mostly used parent transport too. It's still common in many areas.
 

TyAndCheyMommy

New member
I have specifically wrote and had notarized a letter stating that none of my children are allowed to ride in a vehicle that I did not prior authorize. It also states that in event of emergency and I cannot be contacted they are to restrain my children in a 5 pt harness or booster (spells it out by child) that is properly secured in vehicle.
We had an incident where the bus was out o service and instead of calling me they just put my kids in a van and brought them home. My 5 year old autistic son fell off the seat because he was not even bucked in and cut his head open.
 

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