It's the Doak TC Weekly Safety Reminder with an advisory for anyone picking their kids up from school (or having friends or grand parents pick their kids up at school). Please have those kids stow the backpack before getting in the car. No, the boy in this photo is not that tall and not normally sitting quite so close to the airbag deployment zone I'm assuming. However, with his overflowing backpack still attached to his torso, he's nicely placed for maximum smacking force when the airbag deploys because grandma's foot has slipped off of the brake because she's balancing little sister on her lap and progressing through a 50-car queue that has small children crossing through it. Wait,,,,,, did I just say balancing little sister on her lap? OK, one peril at a time: back to the backpack.
This is not an unusual scenario, by any means. This is what I have seen (and photographed) at school dismissal time all over the state. Hundreds of kids are spewed out the school doors clinging to their backpacks and then slurped up into the family vehicle and whisked away with barely enough time to pull the door closed behind them. No, they probably can't fit a seatbelt on that way, and no, they probably aren't in the back seat (if a front seat is available), and no, they may not even have space to sit down so they have to stand, and no, they can't possibly fit in a booster seat, and no, they're probably not traveling lawfully and no, they may not remain in the car if there's a crash. BUT, that car's going to make it out of the parking lot as fast as it can, and, heck- they're just going home, right?
Let's review: By law in Michigan, all kids under 4 must be in the back seat, and best practice tells us that nobody should really be in that front seat exposed to an airbag until at least 13. By law in Michigan everyone under 8 years old or less than four feet nine inches (whichever comes first) must be secured in a properly used child safety seat, most likely a booster at that age. And, by law in Michigan, anyone under 16 years old must be restrained via child seat or seatbelt no matter where they are sitting.
Let's review one more thing: No matter what the law is, crashes happen everywhere and kids get hurt; often needlessly. It honestly takes very little time to be safe. Stow the backpack where it needs to be, and stow the kids they way they need to be.
Be safe.
I'm sure by this time you are not amazed by the stupidity of adults when it comes to the safety of their children, but I still am shocked that otherwise bright people are willing to take chances with the lives of their kids. It's a wonder they don't hand them cigarettes and martinis for the ride home. Thanks for keeping the focus on child passenger safety and presenting it in a way that offers hope and help to drivers. This is a great service.
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