Oh so much misuse!

Today I saw a woman with a little girl that wasnt even two in a turbobooster. The little girl had the shoulder strap over her arm and the lap belt was way up on her stomach! She was waaaaayyyy to tiny to be in a booster. And her im guessing sister. was next to her in a evenflo discovery seat with a handmade cover with no seat belts on. They were about to pull off. And the baby wasnt even buckled, she was about 4 months old !

Call 911 and follow the vehicle while giving directions to the 911 operator. Seriously. Do this everytime you see misuse like this.

That is a great idea. I will do that next time. It is too late now but if I ever see them again I will do that, or anyone else misusing for that matter.

Has anyone tried that? Will 911 deal with that type of thing?

I called CPS once and they couldn't do a darn thing. Then when I saw a 12 or 15 mos old STANDING on grandmas lap...called the police, but had to pull in to a gas station to get a phone number, just lucky there was a gas station right there, but 911 would be a whole lot easier if there were no station, or to be able to keep following the car.

911 will most definitely send a squad car to pull the driver over and give them a ticket. I've personally done this. So have many other members of this board. They have to be in the car and driving while the misuse is occurring. You can't call 911 if they're at home.

Hmm...maybe we can get an officer to sit right outside the school's driveway and pull people over. So many people are driving away from carpool w/o kids buckled or even sitting (and we park and wait for the kids to come to us, so there's plenty of buckling time). I know the nurse is very concerned about it, she and I discussed it today.

I knew I could call the police (station), but not 911. Good to know!

A bit off topic:
I just read yesterday (BRU website) a comment from a mom of a 6 MONTH OLD BABY. Her baby LOVES the Graco Nautilus!

Yesterday I saw a 20 year old mother buying a LOW BACK booster at WM. She only has 1 child, and he's approx 18 months old! It made me want to VOMIT, of course she *could* have been buying it for someone else, but I doubt it. I used to work with her mom (baby's Gma) and saw Gma one day pull into WM parking lot when the baby was about 4 months old, she must have been holding him while driving because just a few seconds later she was carrying him in one arm and the carrier in the other, ya know, because carseats are really only useful when you need 2 hands for shopping! VOMIT again!!!

Wineaux said:

911 will most definitely send a squad car to pull the driver over and give them a ticket. I've personally done this. So have many other members of this board. They have to be in the car and driving while the misuse is occurring. You can't call 911 if they're at home.

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I was just wondering about this so I'm glad to see that 911 is the right thing to do. I'm in Canada (Ottawa, Ontario), and I'm assuming the police here would do the same? The other day I had my phone in my hand about to dial 911 after seeing a young boy (maybe around 5, 6 tops) in the front seat of a car in just a seatbelt (at least I'm assuming he was wearing a seat belt). The only reason I looked in the car was because a minute earlier the driver had swerved into the oncoming lane then over to the side of our lane - I had been expecting to see him chatting on the phone. Anyway, I hesitated because I wasn't sure it was a 911-worthy offense but I don't know the regular police number. Then he turned and I had to put the phone down to follow. By the time I found where he went he was out of the car with the boy going into to a gym. I looked in his car to double-check and there was no car seat.

Since they weren't in the car anymore I really didn't know what to do, so I left. Could the police do anything (even just talk to the guy) if it is obvious that to get there the child wasn't properly restrained (since there is no seat in the car) even if not caught in the act?

I was also wondering whether you would have to stick around or give your name or anything once the police show up. I'm scared of retribution from crazy angry people.

sparkyd said:

I was also wondering whether you would have to stick around or give your name or anything once the police show up. I'm scared of retribution from crazy angry people.

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It may vary by location but for the times I have called (dad holding a toddler while driving and a mom holding a 3ish month old in the front seat with an unrestrained 4ish year old in the back) they always start by asking if it's an emergency and then my name, my number and if I've called before (I always feel like a crazy lady when I say yes, LoL). I've never been called back btw.

In both cases I was told to stop following the car after a certain while and told that the police will deal with it from there. So in my case, I honestly never know if they actually do go and find these people. I always hope so, but I don't know.

But when I do call I make sure that I have the license plate, make and model of the car, color and a description of both the person driving and the child(ren). I don't know what all they need but they always take the information down.

So in the future, yup, just call 911! They will determine what action needs to happen!

And to the OP: Like someone already said, just call 911 next time! You might feel like a crazy lady at first... but the feeling wears off a little the next time you call