Is it worth a child’s life?
We all do things in our lives to make us look or feel good and we tend to buy ourselves “toys” to help us do this. The only difference as we get older is that our toys become more expensive. Some of the “toys” we buy ourselves comes in the way of vehicles. We want a sports car or expensive looking vehicle as we reach that mid life crisis, don’t we? Should we not think more practical though when it comes to looking for a vehicle once we start a family?
Safety versus style; which is more important? That’s a big question and can be placed anywhere within our society. I remember being a teen and wanting to wear my running shoes without tying them up. It was cool, but the moment I began to run, I would step on the laces and fall to the ground with a thud. Where was safety there?
Each time we decide to buy or lease a vehicle we have to come up with the question of safety as well. Recently, I noticed an SUV parked at the side of the road with a child seat in the backseat. This particular SUV was a convertible and the vehicle was made to have the doors removed if so desired. In this particular case, the doors were removed while it was parked. This concerned me for a few reasons. First and foremost was the safety of the child in the child seat. I certainly hoped the driver installed the car seat properly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k42LQizlMhI&feature=player_profilepage
But what if it wasn’t installed correctly? Or what if the child learned how to take themselves out of the seatbelt themselves? There weren’t any doors to keep the child in the vehicle until the driver pulled over to rectify the problem. My oldest son learned how to remove the seatbelt from his child seat just before he moved into booster seats. Could this be the same situation for this family? Could you imagine the child falling out of a moving vehicle?
The other concern I have is if the child threw something they were holding out of the vehicle. Now, that can happen with any convertible and also with any vehicle that has the rear side windows down. But the risk becomes higher then the “hole” is larger; such as not having any doors. This risk is for the drivers who are driving past this vehicle. The driver could be startled as a book, juice box or toy comes crashing onto their windshield. Couldn’t this cause a potential crash?
I also hope the driver of this vehicle will think carefully when their child outgrows the child seat and uses a regular seatbelt. They’ll also become stronger, which would allow them to remove the seatbelt. Without any doors holding them in, it could easily spell a disaster. Remember, a lot of vehicles have child-proof locks installed on them to help keep the kids inside the vehicle.
It takes a smart, caring driver to keep their child safe within the vehicle. Hopefully they’ll keep the toys attached to the child seat somehow to prevent them from flying out of the vehicle. Hopefully they’ll ensure the child seat is properly attached and have had a professional installer look at it. Hopefully they’ll put the doors back on the vehicle when they have their child in the vehicle. Hopefully this will make sense.
I personally wouldn’t have a vehicle without doors with my children. I have a 2 year old right now who can and does get out of her seat while I’m driving. I’ve had to pull over on a few occasions to get her back into it.
Thanks for the comment Bridget!
Gday!
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