This is exactly why proper car seat usage is so important for parents to follow. Five children, between the ages of 2-13, were killed and five people taken to the hospital.
The SUV that the victims were riding in veered off the road, rolled several times down an embankment and finally came to rest upside down on it’s roof on an interstate highway between Tyler and Canton, Texas. Three of the children were pronounced dead at the scene while the two other children died later.
There were 12 people riding inside the GMC Envoy bound for a water park. An Envoy cannot seat 12 people. When officers arrived on the scene, there were no car seats in the vehicle. Some of the victims were thrown from the Envoy as the car rolled.
Unfortunately, too many people take the stance that child car seats and seatbelt laws are not applicable to them because they are safe drivers. These people tell themselves that they are cautious drivers and they would never let something bad happen to the children in their care.
These are the same people who believe that just driving across a parking lot without fastening the car seat is fine. How many of us have done this? Probably most of us have done this. Never again.
This tragedy is proof that your life can be altered forever in a single moment of carelessness. I’m sure that some of those 12 people in the vehicle were the parents of those children who died. The day probably started out as a spontaneous fun trip to the water park, perhaps one last summer surprise for the children before school started back. Now, five children are dead. Their parents’ arms are empty and their hearts aching.
This single moment of carelessness can never be undone. For the safety of your children, please fasten your children into their age/size appropriate car seat and wear your seatbelts. It could mean the difference between life and death.
Have you ever driven with your child without a car seat?
Photo Source: 05Com
