Children, Seat Restraints, and Auto Safety

I saw this and it brought a number of thoughts to mind..........

Before anyone thinks bringing these back is a good idea: I testified in a lawsuit by a mother against the State of Florida in Palm Beach in 1992. The girl, 4 years-old (older than the boy pictured), was standing in the front seat and was leaning on the dashboard. 

A downburst stuck a construction site as the car was passing through it. It picked up a square road sign. The corner of the sign pierced the windshield and the child's skull. She died almost instantly. So, this type of 'restraint' is certainly insufficient. 

Perhaps surprisingly given these facts, the jury found in favor of the mother. A downburst in 1991 was practically unforecastable and it would have been nearly impossible in the 70+mph winds for the crew to scurrying around gathering all of the signs (and the one that caused the injury was weighed down with sand bags). 

Turns out that in Florida, and in many other states, there were laws that forbid (in civil trials) the jury being told whether a child was restrained and, if he/she was, what type of restraint was used. The defense attorneys polled the jury after and the jurors assumed the child was in a car seat. Add that to the natural sympathy for a mother who lost her child and the presumed "deep pockets" of the State of Florida, the jury felt it was doing the right thing. 

Why did it take so long to get seat belts into cars? The full story is here. A brief excerpt:

When I asked my Dad (a Ford dealer) when we were going to get seat belts in cars (this was the 60's) it was like recommending we allow a Voo-Doo doctor to operate on one of my little sisters! "People don't want safety!" he practically shouted. I didn't know the history of Ford and auto safety. 

Thank goodness we have these lifesaving tools in our cars today!

Be careful on the road this holiday weekend!!