Do you enforce seatbelt usage with your children?

Question

Now that it’s back to school season, I see SO MANY parents driving around with their children without seatbelts. Even worse, I have seen people drive with young children without a car seat when the child should be in one. Or see a young child just sitting in the front seat with no restraints at all. I honestly can never understand why people wouldn’t take the extra 2 minutes to make sure their children are safety strapped in. Or why they simply don’t seem to care?

I personally always wear my seatbelt. I feel naked without it on. My husband does not ever wear his unless I’m driving and I make him. My son is only 2 yrs old and of course he’s always in a car seat.

So I’m sure some of you won’t be honest or won’t respond if you’re one of those people, but I’m curious how many of you are strict about the safety of your children when driving? Do you enforce seatbelts? Car seats? Why or why not?

Answer 1

My child has not been in her car seat twice while the car was moving. The first was when we were at my step-fathers funeral and had to move down a few spots and were going less then 5 miles and i did put a seat belt on her. Some one else had taken my car to get something. The second was when we drove down less then a bloke to get dinner and had to bring a lot of towels with for people who were tubing to that point. For people who don't make there child seat in there seats for rides longer then that just no thinking or using the... when my parents were young they didn't have care seats. I don't understand not buckling there seat belt either. My car doesn't move untill everyone in its seat belts are buckled. My cousin died becuase of that.

Answer 2

I don't see how anyone couldn't wear a seatbelt these days.  I have been wearing one religiously since 1987.  

If you are in a bad accident and you aren't wearing a seatbelt, you WILL DIE.  If you are wearing one, you may live.  How could anyone ever live with themselves if they killed their own child?

Answer 3

~I always wear my seat belt.  My 2 year old daughter is always in her car seat, never would I allow her out of it while the car was moving at any speed.  Nor would she ever be allowed to ride in the regular seat.  She is much to young and much to small to be in the regular seat.

I would be a hypocrite if I didn't wear my seat belt, because I am so strict about my child being in her seat buckled up.  I need to model the right and safest choices, so when she is old enough, she can make the right choices on her own.

I also believe you have every right to say something or turn someone in for endangering the life of their child.  It is our right to tell someone.  Just like if you were walking by and a child was left in the car by themselves, I would 100% break that window, call the police and save a child's life.  You would be doing the same thing turning someone in for letting their 3 year old(or any child not buckled in) move about the car while driving down the freeway.  You might save that child's life by turning them in.

Answer 4

i always wear my seatbelt, i feel naked without it and thankfully my husband always wears his too because he is in the medical field and has seen what the lack of a seatbelt can do.  i think you should take down the lisence plate number and call the police for those who don't follow seatbelt laws. i know that may sound harsh but i work for a medical helicopter service and a couple of years ago a woman was driving holding her baby (ala britney spears) and she got into a wreck. her baby was decapitated and the woman was completely fine. she was actually due in court the next day over not driving with her baby in a carseat. now she is in prison.  it takes tough action to make changes and maybe if people are ticketed enough or have their lisences suspended they will realize just how dangerous it is to NOT enforce seatbelt laws.

Answer 5

In Michigan it's Click it or Ticket.

We ALWAYS wear our seatbelts. There is no option.

Answer 6

I have three boys and my oldest is 10 he was perfect about always staying in his car seat and never unbuckling then I had my second son and at about 3 years old he started taking off his own seat belt while i was driving and getting out of his car seat.  I had warned him many times not to and how dangerous it could be, I would tell him if we were to get in an accident you could fly through the windshield and get killed or even if I have to stop suddenly you could get really hurt.  So one day we're driving down our own street almost to the house and I see him climbing out of his car seat we were only going about 15 miles an hour so I thought I'm going to teach him a lesson and I slammed on my brakes, he went forward and hit his head on the back of the passengers seat, he didn't get hurt but it was enough to scare the c**p out of him.  So needless to say yes my boys always buckle up.  

I get so pissed too when I see kids not in car seats or buckled up.  I live in Sacramento and just last winter there was a young teenage mom with I think four other young people in the car and she had a little boy who was like 18 months and she didn't have him in a car seat (it was in the trunk) they were hit by a drunk driver and the baby died. I don't think the baby was the only one that died either.

Answer 7

depends where you live. if you don't live near the police station

or where laws are enforced then

HELLA YEA

Answer 8

absolutely I do, in fact it is a crime not to.

Answer 9

I would never, ever let my kids in the car without buckling up.

My 6 yo is still in a car seat with a 5 point harness.  Legally, he can sit in the car with just a seatbelt.  

Last year, when my son is in Kindergarten, I saw tons of kids sitting in the front seat with no car seat/booster...  In California, kids are not allowed to sit up front until they are 12 yo, unless all the back seats are taken by other children.

My kids will stay in a 5 point harness as long as possible, and they will stay in a booster seat until they outgrow it.

I ALWAYS wear my seat belt.

Answer 10

I always wear one and make my kids too. I get mad when I see young children in the backseat of a passing car without a belt on. every time I see a kid without a seat belt on i always think that they're going to end up hurt in a hospital somewhere.  

Answer 11

i am most of the time. i think its important. but you cant control what others do. its called minding your bizz.

Answer 12

When I was growing up, who ever was driving the car wouldn't move it until everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the car was wearing their seat belt. If we forgot, we would be told to put it on so that we could leave. There was no exception. I'm 13 now and putting my seat belt on is the first thing that I do when I get in the car, no matter what. I guess after all of these years it's become an unbreakable (but exceptionally safe) habbit.  

Answer 13

it's a good habit we have. If either me or my hubby forget to seatbelt my daughter she will yell!!! lol "mommyyyyyyy carseattttt" Yeah never going to forget.

Answer 14

We wear seat belts 90 percent of the time.  We could do better, but often we simply forget, as we're on the run so much.

Answer 15

Actually, I have been one of those people who has reported a car that was driving with a very young child (between 12-18 months in age) that was not restrained.  Sorry- but I'd rather call it in and have the parent made aware of the danger they were putting their child in, than have it on my conscience that the child may die in a car accident because I didn't do the right thing and report it.  I am also a preschool teacher, which in CA makes me a mandated child abuse/endangerment reporter.  If I see something like that- I have to report it or face criminal charges.  Yes, this technically only applies to the time frame in which I am working for my job- but I can't turn off my conscience where a child is concerned.

I have told my own children (9 and 4 years) that our car won't start without seatbelts on.  I always wear one to model for them, and they don't go anywhere without one.  My oldest daughter did not legally weigh over the weight requirement until just last year, so she was in a booster seat at the age of 8.  In CA, we have the same slogan... "click it or ticket", and children must be in car seats until they are 6 years and 60 pounds, although the state recommends that they be in booster seats until age 8 and 80 lbs.  Other children that ride in my car (as on a field trip) also are required to have the recommended seat or seatbelt (depending on age), or they don't ride.  It is just not negotiable in my mind.  And, when you have something so easy that can protect your child from brain damage and death... there really isn't a choice there- you just do it.

Answer 16

I always wear my seat belt.  I feel naked without it.  I also enforce my 3 year old step daughter on the seat belt rule.  The car does NOT move until she is buckled in.  I also take it one step further if she has any stuffed animals in the car with us, then they have to be buckled in too.  I may take it a little too far, but I tell her we have to be safe, and that includes everybody and everything, lol.

Answer 17

Right now my son is still in a car seat and is ALWAYS properly restrained. I always wear my seat belt and so does my husband.

Answer 18

All the time. I would never be able to live with myself If something were to happen to them. I do however let them go without it when I drive them down the street to soccer practice...we live in a gated community and the speed limit 25...kids drive around in golf carts so I feel that my kids are completely safe but if we are going out of the gates, they know they need to be buckled...

Answer 19

I always do. i would never be able to live with myself if something happened to my son that could of been avoided by a seat belt.

There is a family across the street from me, you always see them going in the car with the little kids bouncing around in the front. you know that they are not bucked in. It really bothers me. We live in a high traffic area and accidents happen around here all the time.

People might say it is none of my business.Well here in canada out medical system is funded by us tax payers.So when one of these poor babies is hurt because of a stupid parent we all pay for it!!

Answer 20

it doesn't matter where we are i make them where a belt at all times.and there not to take it off till the truck has come to a complete stop&were there.

Answer 21

I know what you mean.  It sad to see Parents that don't enforce seat belts/care seats on their children.  If God forbid there was an accident and their child was seriously injured or died it honestly would be on that parents hands.  I also feel naked if I don't put on my seat belt as soon as I get in the car and I make sure that my older two kids are buckled up and that my 5 year old is properly restrained in his booster seat.  It really is sad that some parents don't think of their children as important enough to keep them as much is within their power.

Answer 22

Oh yes, I'm a safety girl.  To know that my child might lose their life b/c I was too lazy to put them in the car seat or seatbelt...whew...I couldn't live my life with that guilt.

My kids are TOO precious to take those chances.  Same thing with people that leave their kids in the car to run into the store quickly...and leave the keys in the car!!  It's crazy!  

Answer 23

Even back in the days when there was no law for adults to wear their seatbelts, I enforced the seatbelt rule 100% for my kids, and any kids in my car.  

Answer 24

my kids & i are always in seatbelts. i do it because, really, what is the choice?? take a chance without one and possibly get killed, or enforce the rule in your car and know that you did all you can.

in my state it is the law-$75 a pop, and $150 for no carseats or a child under 12 unrestrained.

Answer 25

yeah I will force my kids to wear there seat belts its for there own safety .

I heard about kids in car accidents and how they are now because they didn't wear a seat belt and stuff like that can be prevented if they only had there seat belt on...

Answer 26

My children grew up believing that mommy's car wouldn't start unless they had theirs on.  it's like habit to them now...they just get in and put their belts on.

Edit - I love the whole my hubby doesn't do unless I am driving and I make him!  Mine is like this as well...when he rides with us, sometimes our smallest child will just say - "Mommy are the cops going to pull us over today" and when I say no, why...he comes back with "because Daddy is breaking the law".  Immediately my husband remembers who's car he is in and puts it on...we then tell him thank you!  HA!  Thanks for the laugh...

Answer 27

Everyone ALWAYS wears a seatbelt in my car. And my 6 1/2 year old and 3 year old are both in booster seats. I am lucky because my husband wears his all the time as well- he was in an accident when he was younger and so he is a huge advocate of seatbelts! What makes me really sick is when I see someone driving down the street and in the passenger side on someone's lap is a baby too young to even walk! This is so dangerous and its not fair to the baby.

Answer 28

as a  former firefighter/emt i am  very strict about it because i've seen the injuries that result when people do not wear their seatbelts... especially childeren. i'll be the  first to admit that if we're driving in a neighborhood garage sale or something i'll just let them sit in their seats because we get out all the time and are never driving over 5-10mph but as far as anywhere else i always make sure they are buckled...its the simplest thing you can do to protect your child in a car...in Illinois we have Click  it or  Ticket checkpoints  all the time...the police will ticket you if you or your passengers are not wearing seatbelts--except if thepassenger  is an adult in theREAR seats of the vehicle.

Also a few  weeks ago we had a traumatic incident happen in our own  van...the middle seat where my 2 year old rides seatbelt wouldnt retract so we put her in the 3rd row with her sister and flipped that seat down  so we could easily get her in and out. well my 4 year old unbuckled Camryns  car seat and i didnt know so  i strapped her  in the 5point harness and we left...as  we were going down a hill i got cut off and had to slam  on the brakes to avoid an accident.  little camryn car  seat and all came flying up front.   she had a huge knot  on her head from hitting the center console up front...ALWAYS buckle your kids up.

Answer 29

My kid's have always worn a seat belt in the car. I have an 8 year old in a 5 point because he is so tiny.

I once saw this 10 year old (ish) boy in the front seat of a vehicle holding an unbelted young infant. It was almost surreal. However, if they don't care about potential risks to their kids then I surely don't.

Answer 30

Always! If a child is in my car there is a seat belt strapped around them. My kids won't even try to argue the point. They know it's going on like it or not.

There have been a few times where I caught one or another sneaking the seat belt off and I simply pull off the road and slam on my brakes! By slamming on my brakes I hope to throw them forward enough to scare the heck out of the child.  When the car is stopped I put it in park and wait until the seat belt is put back on. My kids have only done it once and I have never had a friends kid try it more than once. They get the idea pretty quickly.

As for car seats I don't care how crowded they make the back seat if the law says a particular child needs to be in a seat then they are in a seat. I have 2 in my back seat because they raised the age to 8 years old or 60 pounds. My 10 year old (poor child) is usually stuck sitting between them because my 6 year old is only 33 pounds and the 2 year old needs to be in a car seat anyway.    

Answer 31

We always buckle up.  Both my kids are in a five-point harness seat and will be until they have outgrown it. if I see someone with kids bouncing around I will take down a tag number and call the cops with their location and heading. I don't know that those kids are with their parents. Maybe they've been kidnapped or are with relatives or caregivers. Maybe their parents don't know the caregiver isn't buckling them up. If someone saw my kids riding unsecured I hope they would call the cops because I would never put them in such an unsafe situation.

Bottom line is that all people in a vehicle should be buckled up and any cargo (purses, backpacks, toolboxes, sports equipment) should be secured.  Unsecured people and objects can become projectiles when an impact occurs. The thought of a flying hammer makes me shudder.  30 mph is not that fast but do you want to be hit by a pair of golf shoes traveling at that speed when you've completely stopped?  What about a 180 lb. human body? A relatively minor, low-impact collision can become a hundred times worse if you're thrown into the side or back passenger seat and lose control of the car.  Also, although you might not be going fast or very far its important to anticipate how fast and recklessly the other guy is driving.