I called the cops today and I'm damn proud I did!

[Zarathustra]

*Originally posted by featherlou *
I don’t agree with you on this point; I have called the police in situations where I heard a woman being beaten a couple of times, and I would not, under any circumstances, put myself in arm’s reach of a guy who is already out of control. As far as I’m concerned, in these situations calling the police is the best thing you can do. They are trained to deal with these situations, and they are much better able to deal with the risks involved in sticking your nose into somebody else’s business than I am.

I absolutely agree, a situation like that calls for the cops. But . . .

I realize calling the police for a baby abuser is somewhat different than someone who is beating somebody up, but I think my logic still stands.

Come on, “baby abuser”? Isn’t that a bit hysterical? The (admittedly ignorant) mother was holding her baby on her lap in a moving vehicle–a bit different from a case where the kid is actually physically harmed or sexually molested, don’t you think? Will the kid require therapy years from now, and under hypnosis she’ll say weepingly, “doctor, my mother unthinkingly endangered me by cuddling me in her lap while Daddy was driving”? Please. That just makes a mockery of the all-too-frequent cases of real child abuse.

[MandaJo]

Zarathutra, you are making the assumption that the parents in this case are making their decsion out of ignorance, something that several posters have pointed out is impossible–unless they had the baby at home without ever going to the doctor or reading a book or anything (a very unlikely senario), then they know that they are “supposed” to keep the baby in the car seat. They didn’t believe it when their doctor told them it was important, why should they listen to the clerk at the 7-11? Perhaps the cops can explain much more explicitly what a baby smeared on concrete looks like. And if that dosen’t work, perhaps the desire to avoid another ticket will. It is not the best reason to do the right thing, but it is better than not doing it at all.

[nightshadea]

Like i stared earlier in another post

Stories like this is why I think to have a child you should go through classses and test and get a liscence to be able to even concieve children Of course i could waste time and give all the useless reasons that most paranoid people would give but the longer i live the more this makes sense

[Monty]

I agree with MandaJo: If the parent driving the vehicle has a driver’s license, then he or she has been exposed to the legal requirement of keeping the child in the appropriate child restraint whilst the vehicle is in motion.

Now, if they’re driving the car without ever having a driver’s license…different story.

[Cat_Whisperer]

*Originally posted by Zarathustra *
**

*Originally posted by featherlou *
I realize calling the police for a baby abuser is somewhat different than someone who is beating somebody up, but I think my logic still stands.

Come on, “baby abuser”? Isn’t that a bit hysterical? The (admittedly ignorant) mother was holding her baby on her lap in a moving vehicle–a bit different from a case where the kid is actually physically harmed or sexually molested, don’t you think? Will the kid require therapy years from now, and under hypnosis she’ll say weepingly, “doctor, my mother unthinkingly endangered me by cuddling me in her lap while Daddy was driving”? Please. That just makes a mockery of the all-too-frequent cases of real child abuse. **

Okay, I’ll admit the term “baby abuser” was a little too loaded, but how about if we substitute the word “negligence”? Someone who is not looking after their child’s best interests through either not looking after them or actively hurting them ends up with hurt children sooner or later, which we all agree is bad. If the parents won’t keep their children safe, I believe it is everybody’s responsibility to pitch in whenever they see children in danger.

[drachillix]

*Originally posted by Marlitharn *

drachillix, were you by any chance in a position to eavesdrop when the cops showed up to confront that half-wit who left that little baby in the car on such a hot day? I’d dearly love to know what they said to her - in my experience, cops are the most imaginative swearers.

Got to watch about 2 minutes of it, the cop walked outside with her to the car and took notes, getting a description of baby, how long she was inside, etc. I still don’t think he had told her the kid was inside when we rolled out. Although I’m sure its considered inappropriate if not wrong to let mom think kid is gone. IMHO its better punishment than jail time. Who here would ever forget their kid in the car again if you thought your child was gone forever for an hour or two.

[Holly]

I worked in (adult) ICU and one of the most heartbreaking things I witnessed was this. A man was driving some acquaintances to their car; he had a car seat for the baby, but since he was only transporting these people a block or so, and there really wasn’t enough room in the car, his wife held the baby on her lap in the front seat.

Sure enough, they were broadsided by a couple of drag-racing teenagers. The baby died shortly after arriving at the hospital. The wife suffered a broken bone and some major lacerations, but was essentially okay. The husband had a spinal injury, but by the grace of modern medicine, he wasn’t paralyzed. All of the acquaintences were unharmed.

Ironically, the baby had been named for the man’s little brother, who had died in a car accident years before.

Have you ever had to tell a parent his child is dead- especially when the child’s death is his own fault? Nightmares, nightmares, nightmares.

On a lighter, but much more morbid note, my friend had a baby who was born with trisomy 18- a terrible and fatal birth defect. Knowing the baby was going to die, they got on a plane to go back to their hometown, where the baby would die and be buried. Some asshole in the airport accosted my friend, telling her what a bad mother she was to take a baby on an airplane. (Didn’t she know it would hurt the baby’s ears?!?)

She calmly told him that the baby was going to die any day, anyway, so the flight wouldn’t make much difference. She also showed the man her baby’s ears, which were terribly deformed. I hope he still has bad dreams about it.

When the baby did die, at ten days old, my friend and her husband drove her to the hospital. Ignoring the carseat, my friend held the dead baby in her arms. Laughing and crying, she said she almost hoped they’d be pulled over for having the child unrestrained. “But, officer, she’s already dead!”

I need to go to bed now.

[Marlitharn]

Zarathustra -
You’re wrong. I am quite capable of calling people foul names to their faces, and have been known to do so. I have also been known to confront people courteously when what I really want to do is bludgeon them with a tire knocker. Perhaps you think I should have chased the car down on foot across a busy parking lot crawling with semis in order to make my views known? If millions of dollars of multi-media car safety PR hasn’t knocked some sense into these fuckwits’ heads, I seriously doubt anything I might have said to them would have done the trick, even if I could have gotten to them before they hit the interstate. Sad but true - the only deterrent that works anymore is often the threat of a fine.

YOU may think it’s “easier, and so much more thrilling” to sic the cops on people. I find it a bit nauseating, myself. I prefer to get my jollies in different ways. I’m not looking to “impress” anyone by saying it took some nerve for me to dial that phone. I simply mentioned it because it annoyed me that I hesitated, showing me that even at my age, I still seem to have a shitload of childhood conditioning that needs to be purged from my system.

[gadgetgirl]

In most states in the US hospital staff are not allowed to release a newborn to the parents if they don’t have a car seat and taxi drivers are supposed to refuse a fare if the passenger has a child (of child seat age) and the taxi driver doesn’t have a car seat. (some carry them, some don’t)

[Strainger]

At [sub]traffic school[/sub] yesterday we were given an 800 number to call if you witness the sort of thing as described in the OP. It’s 1-800-505-BABY (1-800-505-2229). You will need to provide them with the following information about the offending vehicle:[ul][li]License plate number[/li][li]State where license plate is from[/li][li]City of violation[/li]Where the child was sitting[/ul]It’s not as vengeful as some people may like (hey, I have nothing against vengeance). What happens is that the local DMV will contact the offenders and educate them about the importance of child safety seats, guidlines to follow, etc.

[zensi]

dude! i called the cops for that exact reason on friday night! it makes me soooo angry. i work in a parking lot, so i see a lot of people doing unsafe things in their vehicles (see my post in the ‘who hates drunk people’ thread). but putting your childs safety or even his life in danger is infuriating. alas, the cops seemed less miffed than i was when i informed them (the 911 lady seemed quite annoyed, actually). i doubt they did anything about it; it was late on friday night, and im sure they had a lot of other things going on.

[tpcutter]

Car seats? Who needs 'em? I just toss the little 'uns in the back of the pickup. The Coon Dog’ll watch 'em! If I’m on the Harley, I just hose-clamp ‘em to the sissy bar. Holds ‘em slick, and they don’ wander around when I’m sittin’ in the bar!