Jack ‘n Tracie

Yesterday on our way out to dinner with the kids, we passed by an accident that had to of JUST occurred. It was a single car accident. The car’s front passenger side was wrapped nice and tight around a tree up on the sidewalk. It was raining, the first good raid we’ve had all summer, so the roads were slick. As we passed we noted that someone else had stopped and appeared to be helping, but then I saw there was a child involved. I insisted we stop, too.

I’m glad we did because we were able to provide a blanket and an umbrella (the child was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt) while we all waited for the police and paramedics. Casey gave up his little stuffed tiger to give to the little boy.

The woman holding the little boy seemed really nice and a bit protective. I assumed she was his mother and was a passenger in the car. The other younger woman involved (the driver) was bleeding at the mouth and understandably upset. Eventually we were told that the younger woman was the mother. She had her son (no more than 4 years old) in the front seat of the car buckled in, no car seat. The passenger side airbag caught him in the face. The woman holding him was NOT involved in the accident but witnessed it and for some reason the boy wanted her and NOT his mother. When the boy’s mother tried to take him, he said “NO! You’re smoking!” …

The witnesses said the young woman was driving ridiculously fast, came around the corner, almost rear-ended the witnesses and in an attempt to pass, she lost control on the slick road and rammed into the tree. When the police arrived, the woman lied and said she had her son buckled in the back seat. The witnesses (obviously very unhappy with this woman) piped up loudly and said that no, the boy was in fact in the FRONT seat and was hit in the face with the air bag.

The paramedics got there shortly after and looked over the boy. The fireman said the boy definitely had “air bag face” and he’d seen it a bunch of times. By then the boy was complaining his head hurt and wouldn’t allow anyone to touch his head. The woman holding him said she felt a bump.

Despite all this, the mother of this boy tried to DENY medical treatment for her son. At this point I was beyond disgusted. First she drives her FRIEND’s car (as we heard her tell police) that happens to have a built in booster seat in the back. She ignored the booster seat and had him in the front with no car seat and nothing but the adult-sized seat belt. Then she drives wrecklessly and crashes the car into a tree injuring herself and her son. And she doesn’t want to seek medical treatment for him. The police and paramedics were forceful and gave her no choice, though… thankfully. She is darn lucky her son is alive! I got the feeling she just wanted to pack everything up and go home because she knew she screwed up and was probably in trouble. I hope she learned a lesson.

We all make mistakes as parents… but to me that one is just stupidity at it’s finest. It’s common sense you use a carseat for your child especially if one is BUILT IN TO THE CAR! It’s common sense children are safer in the BACK seat. It’s common sense that you don’t drive crazy on a wet slick road. Stupid people suck.