Wait until you hear this one!!

Brendan's Mom

New member
I was driving with my neighbor to the aquarium (1 hour away). We were taking her car, a Nissan Armada. I bring my own seats and install them because she doesn't care how her seats are installed and clearly told me to mind my own business. I quietly go through and fix her seats, adjust harness lenghts and chest clips.

Anyway, she was buckling her 5 year old into his turbo booster in the center 3rd row and I looked back and didn't see a lap belt. I told her he wasn't buckled in properly and she told me "no, that is how that belt is"...please understand she has had the car for 2 years. I told her no that there is a lap part that also clicks in. I climbed back there (you should have seen that with 3 kids in the 2nd row!) and found the lap portion and showed her how to connect the lap and shoulder belt so it makes one complete seatbelt. I was mortified because she has been driving around for 2 years without having a lap belt on the booster!!!! Please note why my kids will never ride without their seats and mommy installing them....UGH!!!
 
ADS

MomToEliEm

Moderator
That is pretty scary.

What kind of vehicle did she have? I haven't seen many vehicles that have a separate buckle for a lap and shoulder belt. Hopefully she will ensure the booster is buckled in correctly from now on.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
OMG! Same thing with our neighbors in a Toyota Sienna!!!!

It's almost sad how people have so much faith in seatbelts that they don't make any effort to use them correctly so much of the time :(
 

wondering1

New member
Amazing.

Sometimes I wonder if we should make consumer certification highly attractive (discount car insurance, tax credits, car seat rebates) or something wacky like that.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
To be fair, the Armada manual shows buckling the main buckle for the center 3rd row, but doesn't show anywhere how the belt comes from the ceiling and needs to be buckled in to the little buckle before you buckle the main buckle.


For those wondering, this is a ceiling mounted seatbelt that has a small buckle on one hip (you have to unbuckle this one to let the seatbelt retract back into the ceiling if you want to fold down the seats) ,and a normal buckle where the seatbelt would make a v as it crosses your body. Like this * the "," indicates the main buckle and the "." indicates the small buckle* ,/_.
 

Brendan's Mom

New member
I didn't look at the manual, but common sense says that there must be another piece. I could understand if she was just using the lap belt, but she was just using the shoulder strap!
 

firemomof3

New member
That is truly scary. When I was in school getting my paramedic we had to do rotations at a pediatric hospital. Well, on the day I had to go I had to see a 9y/o boy who had been sitting in the middle seat of a car w/lap belt only, his father fell asleep at the wheel and the car crashed into a barn. The boy is now paralyzed (and has a slew of other injuries) from the waist down because the lap belt basically "cut" him half internally severing his spinal cord. I just don't think parents realize (and how could they) the dangers of a lap belt. But that is why we are all here, to help educate.
 

sfeitler

Member
I didn't look at the manual, but common sense says that there must be another piece. I could understand if she was just using the lap belt, but she was just using the shoulder strap!

So she was pulling the shoulder strap down, and buckling it in where the lap belt should be buckled? The Sienna has the same kind of seatbelt in the middle of the 3rd row. I can't imagine doing that and thinking it's right. What did she think that other buckle was there for? Didn't it occur to her that no other seatbelt in the car works that way?

Wow.

-Sarah
 

wondering1

New member
Do cars come with instructional owners DVDs? If my washing machine came with one, you'd figure a car would, too?
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
My Sienna came with a video but it wasn't about the seatbelts, only about how to move/remove/stow the second and third row seats, IIRC. I watched it once shortly after we bought the van, and then stashed the video in the closet somewhere, I think. :whistle:
 

NVMBR02

New member
Wow. A neighbor was buckling the lapbelt portion of their thirdrow center seatbelt (Honda Odyssey) with her 9 year old sitting there in a lowback booster. I showed her where the shoulderbelt came down and she had said she had never knew it was there...she has had the van for around 4 years now.

I have never seen or heard of anyone just using the shoulder portion though.
 

Pingbns

New member
:)Maybe make an appointment with a car tech in your area, where an expert can explain to her the inportence of proper use. tell her you love her and her child and you want the safest travel possible. Booster seat in my opinio are not the best for children less than 5, but better than no seat.
 

jmm3

New member
Wow, that is really bad. We have a Nissan Quest, and our middle 3rd row seatbelt is probably the same.

I'm wondering what she thought the other buckle and place to buckle it in was for. I guess she probably just never paid attention to it. A new innovative kind of seat belt that doesn't even touch your lap. :rolleyes:
 

mamaofthree

New member
OMG, that is sooooo scary!! I'm sorry, but your friend is an idiot. Not only would I not let this person buckle my kids in, I don't think I'd even get in the car with her. What kind of driver is she if she can't even buckle a seatbelt?

Kimberly
 

Kellyr2

New member
Sounds like how my middle seat in the 3rd row of my Sedona is set up. I could see someone making that mistake. I'm glad you caught it!
 

Brendan's Mom

New member
I have spoken to her about carseats in the past...she uses expired seat, puts her 8 month old forward facing etc... She doesn't want to hear it and has basically told me to but out.

The sad thing is that another friend/neighbor is a certified tech. He happily checks seats and has checked mine several times. She feels no need to have him check her seats.

It is a tough situation...she is a good driver and I feel comfortable being in the car with her. I do not feel comfortable having her install my kids seats and I always bring my own seats if we travel together.
 
Unfortunately, her being a good driver means nothing. Ask most people about a collision they have been in and the response you get is "It was the other guy's fault." Frankly, I would probably tell her that I do not feel safe riding in a vehicle where the passengers are not properly restrained. It may be her kids, but its my life that is being endangered from potential high weight projectiles (her kids) coming at my head in a collision that she did not cause (because she is a good driver).

No matter how good a driver one is, the drunk guy or girl that is shaving while putting on make up and eating a double burger with a diet Coke while texting, talking to a friend and checking the lap top on the passenger seat for the weather or sports scores while speeding is probably going to hit you with enough force to cause injuries to improperly restrained passengers.

If it was merely a matter of her injuring herself then it would be up to her. Since the potential is there to injure me and/or my kids, then she no longer has the final say. If no one will ride with her, she might get the message. :)
 

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