Advice on neighbours not using car seat.

uoho

sorry to go off topic here but have spotted my neighbours child being carried on an adults lap in the back seat of a car on a very regular basis, daily at least. is there any way i can get them to use a car seat for this child who looks 2years old?
i dont want to say it to them as they dont know me but it is crazy what they are doing

silly

uoho wrote: »

sorry to go off topic here but have spotted my neighbours child being carried on an adults lap in the back seat of a car on a very regular basis, daily at least. is there any way i can get them to use a car seat for this child who looks 2years old?
i dont want to say it to them as they dont know me but it is crazy what they are doing

That's shocking.
This may seem extreme but if I were you I would ring the local Garda station and just ask their advice. They might call to the family and have a word in their ear about it.

Re the age for car seats? My daughter is going on 11 and she sits on a booster seat. She prefers it anyway, she can see out the window better and the seat belt is more comfortable.

January

I've moved this to a thread of it's own because the thread it was in was old.

cynder

Tbh it's really none of your business, even if they are driving without seatbelts on themselves or even if the have no car tax or insurance, the garda have to catch them in the act to issue them with penalty points. Unless you drop a hint at the neighbours and say ' you wanna hope the Garda don't catch you, you will get penalty points'.

Not much you can do.

Ayla

grindelwald wrote: »

Tbh it's really none of your business...Not much you can do.

You're right, there's not much you can do, but there is something you should do, for the safety of the innocent child whose parents are breaking the law.

As Silly mentioned, I think it would be quite fair to ring the guards and ask their opinion. If they chose to take it further that's their responsibility, but at least you tried to help the child somehow.

silly

grindelwald wrote: »

Tbh it's really none of your business, even if they are driving without seatbelts on themselves or even if the have no car tax or insurance, the garda have to catch them in the act to issue them with penalty points. Unless you drop a hint at the neighbours and say ' you wanna hope the Garda don't catch you, you will get penalty points'.

Not much you can do.

The safety of a child is everyone's business. If I see a child being put in danger I would most certainly make it my business.
If you saw a child being beaten up on the street would you walk on by thinking " not my business!".... I hope not.

cynder

Ive seen kids unbelted in the car, in fact the girl was 2 and sitting on her dads lap, he was driving out of our estate and less than a 1 min drive to the preschool, if he wants to do that i cant stop him, the only way was is he got caught by the guards. I know he wasnt intentionally putting the child's life at risk, his daughter means the world to him. Its none on my business, the child in not my business (unless i see him thrashing her, then i would make it my business as that is abuse) other than that there is not much a person can do.

I dont know why your going off topic with bringing in about someone hitting their kid, also there is a difference between a slap and a beating.

If the child is so much danger the only persons you can call are social services. Dont know how mcuh help they are going to be though.

Ayla

grindelwald wrote: »

... I know he wasnt intentionally putting the child's life at risk, his daughter means the world to him. Its none on my business, the child in not my business.

Yes, he was. Plain and simple. Any time any child is put into a car without proper restraints in place the parent is choosing to put their child's life in more risk than it would be if they were restrained. Doesn't matter if it's a 1 min journey or not.

In the OP's case, s/he was seeing their neighbor do this *all* the time ("daily at least") so it's worse again.

I stand by my earlier statement that I would at least ring the guards to discuss it with them.

Orion

Is willfully putting your child at risk not abuse? Not wearing a seatbelt - especially at such a young age is dangerous. Any sudden stop even at a low speed could cause serious injury to an unrestrained 2 year old.

As silly suggested call the local station and voice your concerns. They may be able to do something. But that's probably all you can do.

cynder

Ayla wrote: »

Yes, he was. Plain and simple. Any time any child is put into a car without proper restraints in place the parent is choosing to put their child's life in more risk than it would be if they were restrained. Doesn't matter if it's a 1 min journey or not.

In the OP's case, s/he was seeing their neighbor do this *all* the time ("daily at least") so it's worse again.

I stand by my earlier statement that I would at least ring the guards to discuss it with them.

This fella did it on a near daily basis, he left the estate so i dont see them any more. We have guards that live in our estate (4 of them). He never got caught up on it.

I dont see how the guards can do anything unless they are caught in the act.

* prehaps if the person feels the need to video record them at it, that might get the guards attention.

cynder

Orion wrote: »

Is willfully putting your child at risk not abuse? Not wearing a seatbelt - .

I dont see it like that, however a number of people do. I could really expand on the ' willfully putting your child at risk is abuse ' senerio but would go off topic.;)

silly

I don't know why you are so against the op just ringing the local guards and say " look, I see this happening on a daily basis, it's dangerous, is there anything you can do?" if the guards say " no, unless we catch them" then at least the op knows that they have done all that they can do to keep this child safe. ( apart from going directly to the couple and telling them straight - which is not a good idea)

cynder

silly wrote: »

I don't know why you are so against the op just ringing the local guards and say " look, I see this happening on a daily basis, it's dangerous, is there anything you can do?" if the guards say " no, unless we catch them" then at least the op knows that they have done all that they can do to keep this child safe. ( apart from going directly to the couple and telling them straight - which is not a good idea)

I dont see anywhere where i said ' dont go to the guards' , so please dont put words into my mouth, i said ' I dont think there will be much they can do unless they get caught in the act.' :rolleyes:

Wonder how the person got on, if they did go to the guards and report the neighbour for having a minor unbelted in the car.

January

If you see them driving, ring Traffic watch (1890 205 805).

From the Garda website (http://www.garda.ie/Controller.aspx?Page=111)

Traffic Watch is a partnership approach to reducing the number of road collisions and fatalities. It brings road users, An Garda Síochána, the National Roads Authority and the Road Safety Authority together in a united and sustained effort to improve safety on our roads.



Members of the public can report traffic-related incidents using the Traffic Watch lo-call number 1890 205 805. These calls are answered and logged by civilian personnel at the Garda Information Services Centre, Castlebar. The incident is then forwarded to the relevant District Officer (Superintendent) for investigation.



The District Officer will appoint a member of An Garda Síochána to investigate a Traffic Watch complaint. The investigating member makes contact with the complainant to:-

Establish the complainant's version of events
Establish if there are other witnesses to the alleged incident
Discuss the possible actions available, including if the complainant wishes the matter to go court or have the incident dealt with by way of caution, advice or guidance
If the complainant wishes to go to Court, a written statement is taken, and if not and an offence has been disclosed, arrangements are made to have the matter dealt with by way of caution, advice or guidance.



Where an offence is believed to have been disclosed and the complainant wishes to go to Court, a file is submitted to the District Officer who will decide what action, if any, is to be taken. In all instances the complainant should be notified of the outcome of his or her complaint.

James Jones

The Guards won't do anything unless they catch the driver in the act.
However, Social Service will take action if it is reported to them:

Children First
2.4 Definition of ‘physical abuse’
2.4.1 Physical abuse of a child is that which results in actual or potential physical harm from an interaction,
or lack of interaction, which is reasonably within the control of a parent or person in a position of
responsibility, power or trust. There may be single or repeated incidents.
Physical abuse can involve:
(i) severe physical punishment;
(ii) beating, slapping, hitting or kicking;
(iii) pushing, shaking or throwing;
(iv) pinching, biting, choking or hair-pulling;
(v) terrorising with threats;
(vi) observing violence;
(vii) use of excessive force in handling;
(viii) deliberate poisoning;
(ix) suffocation;
(x) fabricated/induced illness (see Appendix 1 for details);
(xi) allowing or creating a substantial risk of significant harm to a child

C-J

Op i was recently driving behind a car in which two toddlers were not in car seats and were climbing around the car while in motion. I rang the local garda station and gave the reg, within 5 minutes I got a call back saying they had traced the owner and had phoned them giving them a warning, so whoever said the guards cant do anything unless caught in the act is wrong. I was asked did I want to proceed further and make a complaint but I declined, my reason for ringin is that i have a toddler myself and if anything had happened those kids I would have blamed myself for not acting.

exador

C-J wrote: »

Op i was recently driving behind a car in which two toddlers were not in car seats and were climbing around the car while in motion. I rang the local garda station and gave the reg, within 5 minutes I got a call back saying they had traced the owner and had phoned them giving them a warning, so whoever said the guards cant do anything unless caught in the act is wrong. I was asked did I want to proceed further and make a complaint but I declined, my reason for ringin is that i have a toddler myself and if anything had happened those kids I would have blamed myself for not acting.

Good to hear this. I would have rang the guards as well...