Strollerderby : car

Think Your Baby's Car Seat Is Safe? Think Again

Kate Tuttle — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:59:00 GMT

In a withering expose published this week, the Chicago Tribune unearthed safety tests whose results raise questions about the dangers posed by several popular car seat models. The findings, which resulted from tests conducted by the National HIghway Traffic Safety Administration to determine the comparative safety ratings of cars, not the car seats inside them, were never released to the public, however, and in some cases were unknown even to the companies that make the car seats. Yet as the Tribune points out, such information would be of great interest to parents, who have to make choices about which car seat to buy based on nothing but the marketing mantras produced and promoted by the companies that make them.

Among the car seats performing poorly in the NHTSA tests -- videos of which can seen on the Tribune web site -- are the Graco SafeSeat, the Britax Companion, and the EvenFlo Discovery (which was recalled after the tests were completed). In nearly half of the seats tested, the bucket flew out of its base before or the seat's dummy occupant incurred damage which "exceded injury limits." In the videos of the tests, the seats can be seen flipping over backward to slam their infant dummies, face first, into the back of the car's front seat.

According to the Tribune article, this kind of result, seen repeatedly in the NHTSA tests conducted on actual cars, are seldom seen in the testing required of car seats, because those tests all feature a "sled bench," a mechanical stand-in for a car that lacks the physical features of a car's interior, such as front seats. All car seats sold in the US must pass muster in a 35 mph crash in the sled bench. The NHTSA tests unearthed by the Tribune simuulated a 30 mph head-on collision in a car.

Researchers and public safety advocates agree that car seats save lives, but also that manufactuters and government need to do a better job of testing their safety, and of informing the public about the results of those tests. It looks, at least for now, as if the latter part will take place. From the Tribune article:

"What you've uncovered totally reveals the flaws in the current safety standard and also NHTSA's negligence in not reporting this to the public," said Joan Claybrook, a former NHTSA administrator and president emeritus of the advocacy group Public Citizen.

Responding to the Tribune investigation, newly installed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a written statement Friday that he ordered a "complete top to bottom review of child safety seat regulations" and directed staff to make the crash-test results "more available" to consumers.

Although some manufacturers responded with plans to implement car crash testing to replace or augment the traditional sled tests, others continue to question the NTSB methodology. A spokesman for Graco agued that the testers must not have properly installed the carseat -- a frequent enough complaint, apparently, that the NTSB included owner's manual diagrams in its material to prove that even when properly installed, the SafeSeat flew off its base in some of their testing.

For parents who take their children's safety incredibly seriously -- which is to say, for all parents -- such information should not be blocked or evaded by manufacturers eager to defend the status quo, and their bottom line. Uniform, realistic, and stringent testing should be required, and the results published and distributed as widely as possible. The government should demand more from the manufacturers, and so should parents.

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Mom Saves Kids From Sinking SUV

Brett Singer — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 03:30:00 GMT

Kortni Peek is a mom and a former lifeguard, but I'm betting this is the biggest rescue she's ever done.

While driving to her parents' house in Leesville, Indianapolis, Peek's SUV ran off the road when her brakes went out. The car landed in an almost frozen pond. Her children, 2-year-old Ella and 8-month-old Maggie, were in the back seat.

Peek leapt into action, yanking the kids out of their car seats and carrying them out of the freezing water.

Later, her husband Caleb got a group of friends together. They managed to get the SUV out of the briny deep. Which is impressive, but less important than saving the little ones.

For a video report, click the source link below.

Source: WSFB.com

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Mom Carries Teen Son's Urn Into Court to Prove He's Really Dead

JeanneSager — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:57:00 GMT

As if Julie Strange hasn't had enough heartache. The British mother lost her teenaged son, Paul, when he was hit by a train near his job at a bakery on Oc. 16, 2006. Then she started getting the letters.

The government said Paul had sold a vehicle and not properly reported it. They wanted their money. But Paul Strange didn't have a vehicle while he was alive, and he certainly hasn't bought or sold one since October 2006. Each time a letter came, Julie Strange called the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and explained her story. She even sent a copy of his death certificate.

Then baliffs came knocking on her door with an order for Paul to appear in court. So he did - in a small wooden box carried by his mother, a brass plaque on the top that read "Paul Richard Strange Died 16th October 2006 Aged 19 Years." The court and the DVLA issued immediate apologies, and the mother of two (still living) children is grateful the flow of letters across her doorstep will finally stop.

Government ineptitude is something we've all come to expect, but sometimes they need to step back and realize - a mother knows best. Watch an interview with Julie Strange here.

Image: Sky News

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Best of FameCrawler: Week of September 26th

Whit Honea — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:00:00 GMT

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7-Year-Old Steals Grandma's Car, Becomes Hero

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 12:00:00 GMT

You may remember Latarian Milton, the seven-year-old who stole the keys to his grandma’s SUV and took it for a joyride with his friend because “it’s fun to do bad things, like drive into a car?” (He did, in fact, drive into several cars on his joyride.)

Well, just in case Latarian’s grandmother didn’t teach Latarian right and wrong with her violent threats—“If I thought they wouldn’t take me to jail, I’d whip his behind,” she said—Latarian has now become a sort of star for his bad ass ways. This recent radio interview starts with the interviewers telling Latarian that they are big fans of his. When they ask if people stop him and ask for his autograph, he says, "I'm a celebrity."

So basically Latarian has learned that acting out in potentially lethal ways makes you cool, and that violence is a great way to express your anger, so long as you don’t get caught.

Photo: ecoustics.com

Three-Year-old Takes Joy Ride Atop Grandma’s Lexus

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Whatever your worst nightmare is when you leave your kids with Grandma, it can’t be worse than this.

A 54-year-old grandmother in the Florida Keys was arrested and jailed after she was spotted driving her Lexus around a parking lot with her three-year-old granddaughter on top of it.

According to deputies, Brenda Bouschet (pictured) said “she was just giving the child some air and letting her have fun.” She also said she had one hand out the window, holding the child’s leg, and that she was driving at “snail-speed.” Bouschet seemed genuinely surprised to learn of laws requiring children to be in car seats, and, uh, not on the roof of a moving vehicle.

Although Bouschet has been released from jail, she faces child felony abuse charges. Her claims that she would never “let anything” hurt her granddaughter seem genuine, but her behavior was frighteningly reckless. What do you think? Should Grandma be let off the hook?

Photo: CBS4

The Best of FameCrawler: Week of June 13th

Whit Honea — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:00:00 GMT

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Real Life Wonder Woman saves her twins

Brett Singer — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:30:00 GMT

Remember the TV show "That's Incredible"? They had a segment once where a woman lifted a car off of her child to save him. This isn't quite that superhuman, but it's close.

Long Island mother Coleen Charles was parking her car and accidentally left it in neutral. She got out, and the car started to roll downhill, landing in the river. She chased after the car, screaming for help. A couple of bystanders rushed to her aid; by the time they got there, she was already in the water pulling the kids out of the vehicle. Everybody pitched in and got the little ones to safety. Mom and both babies (and the people who jumped in with her) are fine.

Just because, here are a couple of clips from the classic Wonder Woman TV series starring Lynda Carter.

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images: 7online.com,Amazon.com

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Girls saves mom, goes on TV

Brett Singer — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Cassy Osborne, a ten-year-old in Galesburg, Illinois, is being hailed as a hero after she took control of the family car when her mother had a seizure.

"Between getting her arm cast off, prepping for television appearances, giving media interviews and saving her mom’s life, the Abingdon fifth grader has had a quite a spectacular week."

Now, personally I would put "saving mom's life" before "giving media interviews" but why quibble?

It does seem that the focus of the article, and maybe the family, is on the media attention. The headline reads, "10-year-old who saved mom called a hero; Daughter, mom, police officer to appear on TV Tuesday morning." I mean, isn't the newsy part the life saving?

Regardless, good for Cassy. And mom too, of course.

image: Galesburg.com

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Tragedy Strikes the Same Family Twice

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:00:00 GMT

In a mind-bogglingly depressing scenario, a Florida family has suffered an identical tragedy on two separate occasions. In St. Augustine over the weekend, a nine-month-old baby crawled out of a broken screen door and got underneath a van that was parked outside of her house. When the driver, a friend of the baby’s family, got in his car to drive away, the baby was killed.

This tragedy hit while the Bernards were still reeling from a similar incident involving their other daughter, who was run over in the driveway of the same house about six months ago. Six-year-old Haley, who is deaf, survived the accident, but is still recovering from her injuries. The day after their baby was killed, the Bernards packed up and moved out of that house.

The incident is under investigation, but no charges have been filed.

Photo: CBS47

Best of FameCrawler: Week of May 23rd

Whit Honea — Fri, 23 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

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Couple Who Left Kid in Car Face Charges

Kelly Mills — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:02:00 GMT

Seems like there's been some serious crackdowns on leaving kids in the car while running errands. A couple in Carmel are going to court with misdemeanor charges after they left their two-year-old asleep in the car in a supermarket parking lot for about 15 minutes. Concerned people saw the toddler and called the cops, but the couple had driven away by the time the law arrived. However, a few people got the car's plate number.

Now, the obvious question in this particular instance is, why did both mom and dad go into the store? One of them couldn't wait in the car as well? But anyhow, the parents feel terrible and they are attending parenting classes. And the mother says, "This is life-altering...I am mortified and horrified. I never got a speeding ticket. We just want to pay our taxes and raise our son." We've talked about the kid-in-car issue before, but just so you know, people are getting busted.

100 years old, 100 miles per hour

Brett Singer — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:06:00 GMT

I used to say that if I lived to be 100, I hope I can at least feed myself. But Gordon Miller has raised the bar.

To celebrate his 100th birthday, Miller's son suggested that he drive a car and a boat at 100 miles per hour. So he did. Click here for video.

The guy seems to have all of his marbles; frankly, he seems to have more marbles than some people half his age. Here's to clean living. I'll have what he's having.

image: allposters.com