Riding Around in Cars

I always feel very sorry for young parents these days, strapping their little tykes into those ungainly contraptions they call "child safety seats." Every trip to the nearby market must begin with a two-minute strap-in session--if the youngster is in a cooperative mood--per child! Then, after you drive a quarter of a mile to the market, Mother must go through another two-minutes per child getting them out of the seats and out of the car.

I feel even more sorry for the poor little kids.

The "authorities" claim that the children will fare better in a collision in these seats. Undoubtedly, they will as long as the car doesn't either burn or become submerged. See, the "safety seats" can't be undone by the kids themselves. By law. Parents can't opt to eschew these seats because they're the law.

I've read the US Constitution, but I can't find where the feds are charged with making decisions on our safety or overruling those we make for ourselves.

Arrogance.

In many cases, and for many parents, these safety seats might make good sense--especially for babies and toddlers.

Now, if you're a nazi sympethizer, cover your eyes: I'm going to write something outrageous.
Let each parent make up his or her own mind. There. I said it, and I'm glad.

The problems with "child safety seats" make a long list, starting here:

They separate the kids from their parents, isolating the kids in the back seat.

They confine the kids to a small space, limiting their mobility.

As mentioned above, they render the kids helpless in the event of a fire or a submersion.

The difficulty of getting the kids out of the car and putting them back leads to temptation to just leave the kids in the car "for a couple of minutes," while car thieves can take the kids along with the car, or heat inside the car can kill. That stuff pops up in the news all the time.

Kids can conspire to murder their parents when they're older, for revenge because of endless hours of boredom in the back seat.

You wouldn't think this would be true, but I've observed many, many parents--both moms and dads, driving recklessly with kids in the back seat. Way more recklessly than I've ever dared to do with passengers in the car. Running red lights, really fast driving (80 mph, 90 mph and more). Unsafe, sudden lane changes. Talking on cell phones. Eating, drinking, reading maps!

Reeking confidence in their Navigators and Suburbans, with air bags in front and safety seats in back, these invincible beings snap their kids little heads back and forth in high-speed maneuvers, secure that nothing can go wrong.

Far better, each of us should drive carefully and safely--that is, keeping his full focus on the task at hand (driving), remembering that he has precious cargo and devoting 100% of his mind to his car, his surroundings and his car. He can think about his money troubles after the car is parked and the kids are safely in the house.

Whether a parent decides for or against "child safety seats" is up to each individual. Government should butt out--it's none of their business.

They've killed Freedom! Those bastards!

Warm regards,

Col. Hogan
Stalag California