Twice now I've seen the parent of older DD's classmate putting his two children (a just-turned-3 year old and a 4 year old) into a car with no visible car seats or boosters, and without buckling them in. The first time I was unsure if they were buckled or not - I didn't see the dad buckle the kids in, but the vehicle was a pickup truck with only the one bench seat and was of a pre-shoulder belt vintage so I convinced myself that maybe they buckled themselves into lap belts.
Today I saw them getting into an ancient (20+ year old) convertible parked next to me and as I was getting the baby out of her seat I watched - since the convertible's top was down I could see that there were absolutely no car seats or boosters in the car. The 3 year old wanted to sit in the front seat, so he did, and neither child was buckled in. The back seat was jammed full of junk and trash, some of which I think the 4 year old ended up sitting on. The dad climbed in, didn't buckle himself in, and quickly pulled out of the lot into heavy traffic.
The law in our state is that children must be in a child restraint until 6 years AND 60 pounds. Neither of these children is anywhere near that old or heavy. Clearly there are some financial and possibly other issues for this family, but I was shocked to see a parent not even buckling in preschoolers.
So when I see it again (and I'm sure I will) what do I do - call that town's police non-emergency number or 911? I don't want to get in trouble for calling 911, but I worry that if I call the non-emergency number, nothing will happen. I am not comfortable approaching the father directly.
Today I saw them getting into an ancient (20+ year old) convertible parked next to me and as I was getting the baby out of her seat I watched - since the convertible's top was down I could see that there were absolutely no car seats or boosters in the car. The 3 year old wanted to sit in the front seat, so he did, and neither child was buckled in. The back seat was jammed full of junk and trash, some of which I think the 4 year old ended up sitting on. The dad climbed in, didn't buckle himself in, and quickly pulled out of the lot into heavy traffic.
The law in our state is that children must be in a child restraint until 6 years AND 60 pounds. Neither of these children is anywhere near that old or heavy. Clearly there are some financial and possibly other issues for this family, but I was shocked to see a parent not even buckling in preschoolers.
So when I see it again (and I'm sure I will) what do I do - call that town's police non-emergency number or 911? I don't want to get in trouble for calling 911, but I worry that if I call the non-emergency number, nothing will happen. I am not comfortable approaching the father directly.