Grandkids as Human Shields?

As promised, it's the first posting of Dangerous Adult Human Tricks photos. You'll find a whole page of 'em on my web site at http://web.me.com/doaktc/Site . I'll post them individually here every few days and give you some background of what we can learn from these lovely slices of daily life. Yes, I took all of the photos myself, and no, the only modifications that I have applied are is sizing them for the web. What you see is what I saw during my days doing school traffic safety consulting.

OK, so for today's selection we find this fine looking grandkid being apparently used to protect the adult from the full force of the airbag deployment. How sweet. Probably won't work, though. The force of the child's skull smacking in to the adult's will most likely result in an unpleasant outcome anyway.

But, HECK, what could go wrong here? After all, they're just creeping forward in a line of 60 other vehicles waiting to pick up hundreds of kids after school. And then they're just going to drive out of the parking lot and to their nearby destination. NOTHING could possibly cause the adult to have to brake or hit something unexpectedly. RIGHT? Well, perhaps I'm just worrying needlessly about the child being smacked by the airbag. After all, she's unrestrained and will probably be thrown out the window before anything happens. Wait, what's that law again? Aw, law schmaw. They're just driving in their nearby neighborhood.

What's that you ask? What about the other photo with little brother? Oh yes, that. Yes, the back seat would indeed be far safer for him, but then the front is,,,,,,,, well, more convenient. AND grandparent can see him better, AND the child likes it better there. Seatbelt and booster seat? No, I'm sorry he can't put the seatbelt or booster seat on right now because, you see, his backpack (which there obviously isn't time to remove) makes it way to hard to use those silly devices (required by law). Heck, his increased proximity to the passenger airbag will probably leave him pretty messed up anyway. OR, maybe he'll be thrown clear like his sister. No, they can't wait and take the time to get the kids all placed properly in the car. Don't you remember? I told you that they're in a line of 60 - 100 cars just itching to get going. What's the priority here! You're talking crazy talk.

See, the annoying thing is that this is really not a terribly unique situation. As you'll find out in my next few posts, convenience rules at schools, and adults just do not understand the risks involved in that darn internal combustion vehicle, or how quickly things happen. Convenience, speed, and happiness of the kids trumps safety most of the time.

I've helped many schools try to minimize the dangers to their kids during student pickup and drop-off. The school where these photos were taken was trying really hard to do a good job. The principal made it a priority. But, she can't control what happens within the cars and the choices made by the adults.

So, parents don't let your babies grow up to be dangerous adults. Urge the other adults that you trust with your little ones to transport them they way that they should. Life can change so quickly. They physics of car, kids and crashes are unforgiving and care nothing for convenience.