Today’s lesson on how NOT to parent comes courtesy of the NSW Police and an image of a couple’s failed attempt to make their own baby car seat for their tot.
Do NOT try this at home. In fact, don’t try it anywhere.
Okay, mums and dads. I know that DIY is all the rage right now. And I love a good Kmart hack as much as the next person. But some things are not meant to be DIY.
Car seats for babies most certainly fall into this category.
Oh baby …
Highway patrol officers in NSW discovered that some people don’t know this when they recently pulled a driver over for a random breath test in the Sydney suburb of Summer Hill. After testing the male driver, they checked the backseat. And what did they find?
From the Traffic and Highway Patrol Command – NSW Police Force’s Facebook page,
It was discovered that a small child was in the rear lying flat on their back in a non-compliant child seat. The child had no shoulder straps and the “child seat” was only attached to the vehicle by a seatbelt that was looped through it.”
Um, guys, that’s not a baby car seat…
On closer inspection, it would appear that the ‘child seat’ is actually a seat from a pram, lying flat on a cardboard box. Yes, a cardboard box.
No restraints. No anchor points. And, naturally, no concern for safety whatsoever.
It’s not the 70s anymore, peeps. We can’t just stick bub in the back of the car and drive off.
Oh, but it gets worse. Because the car was unregistered. And uninsured. Oh AND the pregnant woman in the back seat wasn’t wearing a seat belt either.
Major facepalm.
The price of stupidity
Naturally, the couple received a hefty fine for their DIY baby car seat no-no. Police fined the driver $1318 for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, on top of a $336 fine and loss of six demerit points for the unrestrained child. The pregnant passenger copped a $336 fine for not wearing a seat belt.
Parents. PLEASE keep your children safe when travelling in a car. And that doesn’t just mean making sure you use a ‘proper’ child car seat. It also means strapping them in correctly and making sure the car seat you use is fitted correctly. Road safety experts believe up to 70 percent of Australian child car seats aren’t installed correctly. It’s a scary statistic, isn’t it?
While this faux car seat is pretty much the stupidest parenting move we’ve seen in a while, it’s not the first time parents have proven they need some serious lessons in safety. Check out this galactically stupid baby photo that has the world reeling.
If you’re slightly concerned about the quality of your own car seat, have a look at the safest child car seats in Australia.
