Hot Topic (6/11): Children without seatbelts injured in crash

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

From The Olympian: 

A driver possibly high on drugs caused a crash Tuesday that sent two children to a Tacoma hospital in critical condition and stopped traffic in two counties for more than three hours, the Washington State Patrol said.

Nine people in one of the vehicles involved in the crash on Interstate 5 near DuPont were hurt because they were not wearing seat belts, the State Patrol said.

Trooper Brandy Kessler said a car traveling south on I-5 slammed into an SUV about 1 p.m. after the car's driver lost control near a DuPont exit. A 3-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl riding in the SUV were taken to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma in critical condition. Four other passengers - a 16-year-old, a 10-year-old and two 9-year-olds - also were taken to Mary Bridge.

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This traffic accident was caused by a driver suspected to be under the influence of drugs. 

However, the nine people in the other vehicle were not wearing seatbelts . . . including children ages 3, 6, 9, 9, 10 and 16. This fact contributed to their injuries.

Does the driver of the SUV bear some criminal responsibility for the injuries to the children who were not wearing seatbelts?

Your reaction?

[eaglemama2]

That is horrible and preventable.     It takes tragedies for people to realize that seatbelts in general are a good idea, especially kids, they must be properly restrained in a booster up to 80lbs - that is in the state of UT, not sure about others.      Not properly restraining your kids is or should be at the very least child endangerment.  JMO

[jrdnjstn00]

I think they should be held responsible for not having the kids in a seatbelt. I feel that if you as an adult don't want to wear a seatbelt then ok whatever it's your life. As an adult people know that kids should be in a seatbelt....kids aren't sitting there thinking about what will happen if they get in a car wreck with no seatbelt on.

I never drive with others in my car without seatbelts on. I don't care if your an adult either. I tell everyone one that we won't leave if they are not buckled in because no one is dying in my car.

Me and my kids were in a rollover accident 4yrs ago. We were traveling at 75mph. My truck went airborn and flipped and then landed on the ground and rolled and we lived because we all had our seatbelts on.

[momaof8]

Seatbelts do not always save you sometimes they cause harm. My daughter was driving a van that was t-boned. Her side of the van was crumpled. The trauma docs said if she had been wearing her seatbelt her legs would have been crushed. She was able to move and walked away with minor cuts and bruising. My daughter wearing the seatbelt had a spleen injury and a broken rib and a bruised kidney. Seatbelts are good sometimes and harmful others.

[morningdove831]

This may make me sound crazy, but I think seat belt usage should be one's personal choice, and not the law.  DBF has been a paramedic for 14 years and he has seen equal damage from both wearing a seat belt and not wearing one.  Sometimes the seat belt causes damage and sometimes it saves lives.  It really depends on how the vehicle is hit, the size of the person, etc. 

And the kids could have unbuckled own seat belts - my 6yo niece will unbuckle hers all the time and it drives my mom and my brother crazy!

[alyssamj24]

i think both drivers should be held responsible for what happened.  obviously the person who caused the accident should be held accountable if they were driving under the influence.  and the person driving the suv should also be accountable for not having the children wear seatbelts, especially with a 3 year old!!!  there is  a reason that seatbelts were made and that the law requires people to wear them!!!!

[Pepperlynns]

i find it amazing before seatbelt laws there was hardly any serious wrecks (not saying there wasnt none)..i remember growing up in the early 80s..jumping in the seat, laying in the back wiondow flicking boogers at passerbys...oh the good ol days

[meriana]

I'm pretty much on the fence with seatbelts. We and our children wear them because its the law....if it weren't I, personally, probably would not. Yes seat belts have saved lives but they have also caused deaths and serious injury....you just don't hear about those incidents because then people would question the law about them. When I was growing up and even when my older kids were growing up, most cars did not have seat belts. My kids were put in car seats when they were little and when they outgrew them, they were taught to sit quietly in the car. Most people don't bother with that these days, they depend on the seat belt to keep their kids in place..so if the child takes the seat belt off, they feel they can "wander" all over the car and many do. I can say, having experienced both, cars without seatbelts and the seat belt laws we currently have.....seat belt laws and the car seat/booster seat laws make if difficult to travel any long distance with small children. The laws do not take into account that kids (and adults) get uncomfortable being held in one position after a fairly short period of time.  I've traveled fairly long distances with small children both ways....and the seat belt laws made the trips a LOT less enjoyable for all of us. I generally have a pair of sharp scissors or a seat belt cutter in my car as I have a fear of being in a position where I need to get the kids out FAST and the seat belt jams.  Something that has happened to people at times and has caused death.

[Della529]

Quoting morningdove831:

This may make me sound crazy, but I think seat belt usage should be one's personal choice, and not the law.  DBF has been a paramedic for 14 years and he has seen equal damage from both wearing a seat belt and not wearing one.  Sometimes the seat belt causes damage and sometimes it saves lives.  It really depends on how the vehicle is hit, the size of the person, etc. 

And the kids could have unbuckled own seat belts - my 6yo niece will unbuckle hers all the time and it drives my mom and my brother crazy!

Me, too.  I make my children wear theirs and they do the same as your niece.

Here in Florida a driver can be charged for children not being in an appropriate restraint device.

Yes, a seat belt can be a killer.  My best friend (and first boyfriend) was killed in a crash 17 years ago this coming Saturday.  The cause?  When his car hit a sign pole and flipped sideways, the seat belt bolt in the floor broke.  He was ejected from the vehicle and the seat belt caught around his neck causing traumatic decapitation.

He was on his way to my house.  When he didn't show, I went looking for him.  It was awful.

[Randi02]

Where I live, you are responsible for anyone under the age of 16 in your vehicle. Those kids needed to be buckled up, two of the should still have been in carseats!

I definitely the driver should be charged. Those children lack the capacity to understand why they need to wear a seat belt. It is the responsibility of the driver. How do you fit all those people in an SUV? That probably had something to do with the lack of seat belts. If the two youngest children die, the driver should be charged with a minimum of manslaughter.

[eaglemama2]

IDK maybe the reason seatbelts and booster seats are a law is because it does more good than bad?   if it were a serious danger, wouldn't the law advise against it?