Kathy’s Korner [for May 15, 2003]

It’s time we as responsible citizens took a stand. It’s time we serve as the eyes of law enforcement. It has been said it takes a community to raise a child. Apparently it takes a community to keep a child alive.

The state of Georgia has a law requiring virtually all persons to wear a seat belt when traveling in an automobile. I don’t know that I even agree with the law. But I definitely agree with the part affecting juveniles.

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Recently, while I was delivering newspapers, I saw a woman driving a truck with her toddler in her lap, standing at the window. It is illegal, lady. More importantly, it is unsafe. I didn’t call law officials, because I figured it would be too late by the time they got there.

Then the very next day, I was driving on Hwy. 11—yes, I said on a highway where the speed limit is 55, and the typical speed is probably more than that.

There was a young child leaning out the car window, catching the breeze. The child looked to be four or five years old. There is no way she could have been properly buckled.

The child’s pretty blonde hair was blowing in the breeze and there was an innocent smile on her face. I’d hate to see that face rearranged in an automobile accident.

I am aware of a local woman who lost a child in a car accident—her baby died—and she has a new baby who she does not always properly buckle in, according to witnesses. I wish she’d realize that child safety seats save lives.

There are many, many people out there with their children improperly buckled in car seats. These people, for the most part, are trying to protect their children. However, it is easy to use the seat improperly. It is not unusual for the car seat belt not to be properly fitted around a youth. But, there is no excuse for those who don’t even try.

There will be another car seat clinic at Ingles on June 26 so those responsible parents who want to do all they can to keep their children safe can have their car seat use checked out. Ed Westbrook and Crystal Smallwood are the only two persons certified in the community to check these.

But, we are all certified to see if a child is sitting in its parent’s lap while the parent is driving. Surely, no one can believe that is safe. And there’s no question, it is against the law.

When I was a teen-ager I was riding with the lady I baby sat for. Her two-year-old was sitting on the console between us. She was backing out of a driveway in a residential area. She had to hit the brakes—mind you she probably wasn’t going 10 miles an hour—and that child fell back into the back floorboard and cried for 20 minutes.

I asked her if the child was hurt that badly in a little spill like that, what would happen if she was in an accident.

No one expects to be in an accident. No one anticipates a wreck. But they happen. And they are called accidents because no one means for them to happen.

People, keep our children safe. Buckle your child. And, those of us who no longer have young children…let’s change an age old rule. It is o.k. to tattletale.

If enough of us call law enforcement often enough, they will make enforcing that law a priority. The officers will write citations, and people will be punished. Then, they will change their ways, and maybe all our children can be kept safe.