Does anyone know why their aren't any seat belts on school buses?  And what is your opinion on this Shane since you have seen the outcome of no seat belts?  And why isn't it illegal that all buses don't have seat belts when it is for everyone else?  When you have a baby, you can't take the baby home until you have a car seat.  Don't you think it might be helpful that not only do the hospitals check for a car seat but that it is put in correctly.   Especially for a new parent.

I saw a young girl driving by Kmart the other day, and thought the infant was restrained, he/she was in the front seat, facing forward and the Mother was driving with one hand and bottle feeding it with the other.  I kick myself in the a** for not getting her license plate # and reporting her.  It happened so fast.  So, yes I think they should be reported.

Pain, I think you are right on on this issue. If someone can buckle themselves in, they can buckle in their kid to a car seat. Secondly, in a emergency it's best to call 911 from your car. With all the tragedy and accidents on the 202 that involved children in the last year. why would anyone take such a chance?

I disagree with beekeeper 110%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There is never ever a reason not to have a child in a car seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  They should have called 911, they would have had an ambulance there within 6 minutes. They decided to rush to the hospital speeding and running red lights instead. I have personally seen the damage done to kids by uncaring or negligent parents. It takes less then a minute to put a kid in a car seat. Requiring a car seat is not an extreme law!! I have never had to unbuckle a dead person, or take a dead baby out of a car seat. I have picked up way to many off the road however!  We need to prosecute parents that don't do the right thing. A $60 fine is way to little! Why do we require people to take a test to drive a car, but any idiot can have a child? If you see people driving with kids improperly restrained, it is your job as a responsible person to call 911 and report them! After mom and grandmother get out of jail then let them make the rounds talking about car seats.

I see your point beekeeper and I feel sick with grief for that family's loss and suffering.
Sadly, the enforcement of safety seat laws only seems to come to the fore when there's been a tragedy like this. It might be more effective to ask families who have suffered from these tragedies to help promote the use of safety seats.
I used to be allowed to help "drive'  when I was a kid also. And riding in the back of the truck was the absolute coolest although I was never allowed to sit on top of the wheel wells. But  we learned from those mistakes, sadly after many innocent lives were lost. Which is why we have these kinds of restraints now - although Consumer Reports recently made then withdrew a claim that said most infant car seats failed safety crash tests. I know I often struggled with installing them correctly and worried about it endlessly when my kids were smaller.  Here's a link with more info: www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.9f8c 7d6359e0e9bbbf30811060008a0c/

Yes i agree they are going through enough with losing the child. That is something i would never want to experience and it saddens me a great deal to hear of someone losing a child. But here is a comment that someone said when i was telling the story to them " if the mother was that bad off with an asthma attack then why didnt they just call an ambulance?". Everyone makes mistakes and it is sad that it cost a child's life.

But lastnite when the people had 2 children without a car seat and they were at a store to shop there is NO EXCUSE for that whatsover in my opinion. Sure back in the day there was no such thing as car seats or seat belts and children were allowed to sit on dad's lap. But today we have learned that it is dangerous and can kill and that is a risk i am not willing to take. And i cannot understand why anyone would take the chance.

The story in the Californian is about a 4 month old baby who's mother was having an asthma attack. It is not that easy to restrain an infant in a car seat on the way to the emergency room. It was not reckless endangerment. It was rushed, panicked and motherly to hold the baby in her lap rather than strap the baby in an "appropriate seat" as she was gasping for air.

 We are a little extreme with our car seat laws. They are necessary in accidents, and you never know when an accident is coming. But there was a day when kids could sit in the front seat, and I remember sitting on dad's lap "driving" too. At 5 or 6 years old. Not that safe... sure. We all know that now. In this case, however, the mother and grandmother are just concerned about the baby. They did their best. They lost her. Aren't they going through enough?