so sad- horrible accident in my area

jaemom · Apr 18, 2013

I'm in WNY and there was a horrible accident in the area this morning. Three adults and seven or eight children were riding in a mazda minivan meant to hold 7 or 8 people. They couldn't tell exacly how many seats it had. A 1 month old baby and 2 of the adults died. Some of the other children are in critical condition. They are calling for area blood donors. It appears that many of them were not restrained or not properly restrained. Even the police chief that was interviewed on the news said he can't believe in this day and age that families still travel with their children like that. The police thought it looked like the driver fell asleep, as they were traveling back from Florida to NY. Those poor children.

jjordan · Apr 18, 2013

That is horrible. I found a link in case anyone is interested. According to this article, there were 7 kids and 3 adults in the van. The police captain is quoted as saying "We have more children than we have car seat devices."

jordansmom · Apr 18, 2013

So tragic and avoidable. :crying: Poor families.

Here's a link: Trigger warning: Death mentioned
http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/04/18/2834024/3-killed-8-hurt-in-crash-on-thruway.html

3 ladybugs · Apr 18, 2013

How sad!

Can I also say, how sad it was for them to get from Florida to NY and no one noticed that the car was overloaded like that? I drive on I-95 to Florida (from New Jersey) at least once a year (well twice as there and back) and VERY rarely do I get all the way down there not seeing 1 police car pass me. Don't all states have mandatory child restraint laws? That they can pull you over if you don't have children restrained properly?

Prayers for the families and all involved.

jjordan · Apr 18, 2013

3 ladybugs said:
How sad!

Can I also say, how sad it was for them to get from Florida to NY and no one noticed that the car was overloaded like that? I drive on I-95 to Florida (from New Jersey) at least once a year (well twice as there and back) and VERY rarely do I get all the way down there not seeing 1 police car pass me. Don't all states have mandatory child restraint laws? That they can pull you over if you don't have children restrained properly?

Prayers for the families and all involved.

I can't imagine them getting to FL without seeing police. But if the kids were on the floor of the van then it might not have been obvious that there were more people than seatbelts. Or maybe the back windows were tinted and it was hard to see how many people were in there.

Suzibeck · Apr 18, 2013

So sad. I don't know about other places but in MI you are allowed to have unrestrained occupants if you have more occupants than the vehicle is designed to carry. One of my dd's friends has 10 people in her family and they regularly ride in an 8 passenger van. The school police officer turns a blind eye to parents picking up 5 or 6 kids with a sedan. When I asked him about it he said that that may be their only vehicle and most live close by anyway. So WALK then!

HaileysMommy · Apr 18, 2013

I cannot remember where I heard this but someone once told me that some hispanic families do not use restraint devices because they believe that God will protect them. By using a restraint they are basically saying that they don't trust God to take care of them. Whether or not this is accurate I do not know but it could explain why there were so many people in the car and no one restrained properly. Still sad regardless.

MorgieBear'sMama · Apr 18, 2013

They took out the middle seat??

I can't believe in 2013 people think its ok to transport anyone unrestrained.

Brigala · Apr 18, 2013

In my state it is legal to have unrestrained passengers if all seating positions are taken. I'm not sure that would apply if some seating positions had been removed. I know it doesn't apply if you have a broken seatbelt or something; it's the driver's responsibility to ensure all safety restraints are in working order.

I think it's only legal to transport unrestrained children if all seating positions are occupied by other children. So kids get priority access to seating positions.

And in many states, seat belt offenses are not "primary" anyway; another infraction must be observed in order to pull someone over.

PikkuMyy · Apr 18, 2013

I'm in the area too and have been spreading word about the need for blood donations on FB. Having lived abroad the first half my life, I'm not able to donate. I wish I could! Those poor children are right across the street from me at the Children's hospital and there's nothing I can do for them. *cry*

3 ladybugs · Apr 18, 2013

Is there any movement around trying to get it to be a primary offense for a child not to be restrained? I understand that adults will be adults, but certainly we can make sure children are restrained.

Brigala · Apr 18, 2013

3 ladybugs said:
Is there any movement around trying to get it to be a primary offense for a child not to be restrained? I understand that adults will be adults, but certainly we can make sure children are restrained.

I imagine it depends on the state. In Oregon and Washington it's a primary offense. Adult seat belt mis-use / non-use is, too.

jaemom · Apr 19, 2013

They said on the news last night they had taken the middle seat out and most of the kids were believed to have been riding on the floor when the driver fell asleep. Three are still in critical condition, but expected to survive. Awesome for anyone who was able to give blood. I cannot either, but I know some of my FB friends did. The oldest child was 13. The youngest survivor was 2. I don't know what the laws in NY are for that. I wouldn't have even thought it was allowed.

ketchupqueen · Apr 19, 2013

jaemom said:
They said on the news last night they had taken the middle seat out and most of the kids were believed to have been riding on the floor when the driver fell asleep. Three are still in critical condition, but expected to survive. Awesome for anyone who was able to give blood. I cannot either, but I know some of my FB friends did. The oldest child was 13. The youngest survivor was 2. I don't know what the laws in NY are for that. I wouldn't have even thought it was allowed.

Pretty sure the only exceptions I've read about in NY are for cabs, I know they have pretty strict child restraint laws otherwise, right?

The problem is that people think they won't be the ones to crash.

jjordan · Apr 19, 2013

ketchupqueen said:
Pretty sure the only exceptions I've read about in NY are for cabs, I know they have pretty strict child restraint laws otherwise, right?

The problem is that people think they won't be the ones to crash.

Law is proper use, along with harness to 4 years old or 40 pounds, whichever comes first, and booster to 8th birthday. I don't know offhand the seatbelt law or laws about carrying more passengers than you have seatbelts (because honestly it would never occur to me to allow anyone to NOT wear a seatbelt or to carry more passengers than seatbelts!).

jaemom · Apr 21, 2013

now I'm angry. The local paper had a long follow up story on this accident today. Several of the people are still in intensve care. It said how they were part of the large Latino population in the area, a large loving family and how much spport has been pouring out of the area for family. That is all really great. BUT, there was not ONE mention of the dangers/risks of driving an overloaded vehicle or using proper child restraints. NOT ONE! The media could have used this horrible tragedy to educate the entire community to help prevent this from happening again- and they skipped over that entire issue. UGH!

TeenaMarie · Apr 21, 2013

Do hispanics really think that it's telling God you don't trust?

I've seen the lack of restraints/over filling the car/taking out a seat thing from my uncles brother and his wife. They have six kids seven and under and when they come camping they take out the third row of their suburban to haul their quad. Last summer they put the second and third in the front seat buckled together, the first and the dad sit in the back on the ground next to the quad, and the youngest three on the middle seat.

Stelvis · Apr 21, 2013

Do we really need to throw stereotypes about various ethnic groups around? Does that add anything of value to the discussion of this tragedy?

LISmama810 · Apr 21, 2013

I don't understand what religion or ethnicity has to do with this. There are people of many different faiths/ethnicities who believe in divine intervention. Much more often, though, misuse/non-use is a matter of not understanding the importance, rather than a religious belief.

Brigala · Apr 21, 2013

There are some cultural barriers to car seat use which we are taught about in CPST class.

My understanding was that the "God will take care of us" issue was more of a concern in middle-eastern cultures.

In Latin America, most families do not use car seats unless the child is "special needs" so that's a cultural barrier which has to be handled when trying to work with Latin American immigrants. The use of a child restraint is sometimes viewed as embarrassing, not just to the child but to the parents.

This particular situation, however, is one which is likely not heavily influenced by ethnic background. LOTS of families of all backgrounds seem to think it's OK to let kids lay on the floor on long trips because they perceive that the children will be happier or more comfortable on the road trip. When I was a child, although I was expected to wear my seat belt at all times, I was allowed to loosen the center lap belt in the back of the car so that I could lay down across the back seat with the belt around my middle. My mom only knew that "seat belts must be used" and she was a safety FREAK (that's where I get it) and insisted that I couldn't take it off, but she had absolutely no concept whatsoever about how it was supposed to protect me - or she wouldn't have allowed me to mis-use it that way.

so sad- horrible accident in my area

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