Stretchy Glue
New member
The state patrol was having an emphasis patrol on a stretch of highway this weekend that is usually traveled on like a race track. They were specifically targeting DUI's and speeding. They also had an education set up at a rest area, and asked me to come along. It isn't a good stretch of highway, and I didn't anticipate anyone stopping.
The WSP sent up one trooper/tech and honestly, I was worried because some of our L.E./techs are less than stellar. It turned out to be awesome. He took the tech class on his own, then told the WSP that he was a tech, was very thorough, EXTREMELY concerned about whiplash which was really cool to see.
We didn't have high numbers, but we had HORRIBLE seat situations that we fixed. We put more kids in the front seat than I care to admit, but the options were to leave them in the back seat of a truck with no headrests and a glass window, or a Dodge 12 passenger van with no whiplash protection.
We had old cars, SUVs where the front seat didn't latch and the seat flips forward into the window (and shattered it) whenever the driver stopped quickly, and many other really scary situations.
I think total we checked about 12 seats but this trooper/tech was so fun to work with. People would stop in to get child ID kits, and he'd walk up to them and say "I noticed such and such in your car, can I take a look?" and just walk up to the car and start fixing things.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the kind of check up where we could have the parents doing a lot because the situations were usually so bad that it took the two of us thinking and trying things to create a safER situation.
I've also never had to say in one clinic "There is no safe way to do this" 4 times!
Anyway, I'm kind of on a high after yesterday. It wasn't one of those checks where people show up with new car seats in boxes and you get to put in something brand new, it was the kind of situation that you got to REALLY make a difference.
The WSP sent up one trooper/tech and honestly, I was worried because some of our L.E./techs are less than stellar. It turned out to be awesome. He took the tech class on his own, then told the WSP that he was a tech, was very thorough, EXTREMELY concerned about whiplash which was really cool to see.
We didn't have high numbers, but we had HORRIBLE seat situations that we fixed. We put more kids in the front seat than I care to admit, but the options were to leave them in the back seat of a truck with no headrests and a glass window, or a Dodge 12 passenger van with no whiplash protection.
We had old cars, SUVs where the front seat didn't latch and the seat flips forward into the window (and shattered it) whenever the driver stopped quickly, and many other really scary situations.
I think total we checked about 12 seats but this trooper/tech was so fun to work with. People would stop in to get child ID kits, and he'd walk up to them and say "I noticed such and such in your car, can I take a look?" and just walk up to the car and start fixing things.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the kind of check up where we could have the parents doing a lot because the situations were usually so bad that it took the two of us thinking and trying things to create a safER situation.
I've also never had to say in one clinic "There is no safe way to do this" 4 times!
Anyway, I'm kind of on a high after yesterday. It wasn't one of those checks where people show up with new car seats in boxes and you get to put in something brand new, it was the kind of situation that you got to REALLY make a difference.