Why did this mother not have her daughter fastened in a seat belt?

It was questions like this that made me quit the ambulance service. If you ever find the answer let me know.

Habit for herself, and possibly and likely an “accidents only happen to other people” kind of thinking.

How long ago did this happen? I know when we were growing up we rarely wore seatbelts. My sister was born in the mid-70’s and I remember her riding on the little armrest that was in the middle of the bench seat in my grandparent’s sedan. It never even occurred to them how dangerous this was. When I look back now I shudder and thank God above that they never had an accident – or even hit the brakes hard.

When I was growing up with three younger siblings, they would routinely take their seatbelts off and move around in the minivan. Mom would tell them to sit down and buckle back up, but they’re kids, they don’t always listen. Drove me insane with worry, but we were fortunate and never got into an accident. I’m 100% sure that if we did, all three of them would be dead.

I distinctly remember always fastening my kids’ seatbelts. And half-way through the trip I’d find them bouncing around, so I’d make them fasten them again. My guess is her mom made sure she fastened it, and then the kid stealthily took it off.

If the kid didn’t bounce around like mine did afterward, her mother would likely never know.

Our car “wouldn’t start” unless seat belts were on. Our kids never took theirs off, but if you knew your kids were moving around more than a seat belt would allow, the car should stop until the belts were secure again. I’m sure that poor mom is mourning doubly for her child and for her own carelessness. I don’t know that there is a worse child’s death than that due to the fault of a parent. I grieve for them

Maybe she unbuckled herself or her mother did not make sure she was buckled in. Her mother may not have made her buckle up. I think some kids can really throw a fit about buckling up and for some parents it’s easier not to make them. Buckling up was never an option for my kids nor was it open for debate. They just always did it and still do.
My heart goes out to you for having to be the one to answer that call.

I think sometimes its like when people travel on the same train track every day and then suddenly one day a train shows up off schedule and the person can’t see a whole train coming down the track till its too late.
She probably got use to asking the 7 year old every time if she was buckled in and either she thought she checked and saw her buckled in or she forgot to ask this one time. Or maybe the seat belt wasn’t buckled in correctly, or even the child unbuckled herself to reach for something or because she didn’t want it on.
My kids learned to always buckle in themselves. But at there schools they use to show children films about traffic accidents that had people not buckled in. I think all schools need to show these things to children. (It was all actors. Not actual victims themselves.) But they got the point and always made sure I was buckled in myself.

The mother left it up to the child to fasten herself in, instead of taking the time to do it herself..

Wasn’t the mother interviewed/questioned about what happened?
If she had the child buckled in and she unbuckled herself at some point, well…just a tragic accident. There was a case out here in my area last summer where a mom fell asleep on a raft in her swimming pool with her one yr. old child and the baby slipped off and drowned.
She had not been drinking, it was just a tragic accident.

I’m guilty of often unbuckling my seatbelt when I get off the highway and travel 3–4 miles down my little rural roads home. I know the stats that most accidents happen within a few miles of home, and sometimes I don’t unbuckle myself, but, my reasoning is that I am only driving 20–30 mph and the odds of an accident are small. Still..a deer could jump in front of me or someone else could come around a corner and hit me. I’ve been doing better with this lately, but, I hate the confinement of seatbelts and after driving for an hour or so I am so ready to fling the damn thing off.

This is a tragically sad. I much prefer to think it was a case of an innocent child testing the waters to see if she can be sneaky enough to fool mom. Unfortunately, children have no real understanding of safety.

Maybe the mother did?
And the child undid it?
Need the facts.