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Child Restraints?? Really???

#82
Aberdumbie said:
Rant warning....

My wife and I are adopting two young kids. Now I grew up in a time where a ride to the store meant climbing on the back deck and wallering around while we rode in the family Buick..... Well I just bought a new truck so I could install the child restraints. Sheesh... More like child bondage.....

So Today we have a three year old birthday and buy a small bike. Now my neighbors are all acting judgmental because I don't have the boy wrapped in pads and helmets and such.... I mean really??? Do we have to protect ourselves from ourselves now?? I mean, don't a few bumps and bruises mean we learned something along lifes journey?? What's next?? Racing hemets and Hans devices for a grocery store ride? Full body armor?? I'm sorry, I just hate having all this "safety" imposed on my obvious lack of judgmental abilities...... Rant over.
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Look, I am all for taking reasonable precautions, etc. That said, it has gotten absurd.

This is my son moments after we gave him a road bike for his 12th birthday. My wife almost killed the spontaneity of the moment by running inside to get his helmet. I stopped her. Much of life is about calculated risk, and if we don't let our kids take a few risks as kids, they won't have the skills to take them as adults. Hell, there are times I'm not sure if my daughter (16) can cross the street, as my wife has hovered over her for so long, warning, preempting, cautioning, her so often that she's afraid to make a move on her own, or alternately, assuming if nobody is there to say "be careful", there is no need to be careful.


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#92
Cars now aday have safety glass, airbags, seat belts, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes, etc etc. And yeah, people drove cars in the 1950's without any of that stuff and were just fine. Well, until they weren't. You'd think bc the majority of people in the 1950's (greater than 50%) didn't get seriously hurt or killed in a car, that cars were safe enough as they were. Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

Kids are safer in a 5 point harness (and rear facing!). Kids constantly get major injuries from bicycle or skateboard accidents. Helmets and elbow/knee pads help to protect the kid. It reduces the number of serious injuries and frees up our Emergency Rooms at the hospital.

Is it overboard? That's an opinion. Is it safer? Yes.

I did a bunch of stupid stuff as a kid and LUCKILY survived my childhood - but I know better now and I wouldn't do those things now and I wouldn't want my child in that situation.
 
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#93
ashtray said:
Cars now aday have safety glass, airbags, seat belts, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes, etc etc. And yeah, people drove cars in the 1950's without any of that stuff and were just fine. Well, until they weren't. You'd think bc the majority of people in the 1950's (greater than 50%) didn't get seriously hurt or killed in a car, that cars were safe enough as they were. Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

Kids are safer in a 5 point harness (and rear facing!). Kids constantly get major injuries from bicycle or skateboard accidents. Helmets and elbow/knee pads help to protect the kid. It reduces the number of serious injuries and frees up our Emergency Rooms at the hospital.

Is it overboard? That's an opinion. Is it safer? Yes.

I did a bunch of stupid stuff as a kid and LUCKILY survived my childhood - but I know better now and I wouldn't do those things now and I wouldn't want my child in that situation.
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I know, I get it. I'm a parent.

But.......I can't help but think my kids have missed out. They have never blown stuff up with firecrackers, lit Revel models on fire, you know, good clean fun.
 
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#94
ashtray said:
Cars now aday have safety glass, airbags, seat belts, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes, etc etc. And yeah, people drove cars in the 1950's without any of that stuff and were just fine. Well, until they weren't. You'd think bc the majority of people in the 1950's (greater than 50%) didn't get seriously hurt or killed in a car, that cars were safe enough as they were. Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.

Kids are safer in a 5 point harness (and rear facing!). Kids constantly get major injuries from bicycle or skateboard accidents. Helmets and elbow/knee pads help to protect the kid. It reduces the number of serious injuries and frees up our Emergency Rooms at the hospital.

Is it overboard? That's an opinion. Is it safer? Yes.

I did a bunch of stupid stuff as a kid and LUCKILY survived my childhood - but I know better now and I wouldn't do those things now and I wouldn't want my child in that situation.
Click to expand...


I am totally worth you. I too am lucky to have survived my daredevil youth... And again I emphasize, given the choice I will always choose safety for my family. In my maturity I understand now that I am no longer immortal.

I'll follow along with your auto analogy.... Years ago I bought my first car. I had the option of adding safety belts. It was an "option". My choice. I think I paid just south of 2500 for that car.

I recently purchased a new car for my wife. This car has a safety list that covers an encyclopedia, but I'll just focus one one... It is an internal emergency trunk release..... Well in my mind it is a pretty far stretch that would be an emergency feature I will ever use. I paid just south of 40,000 for my wife's new car. I just wonder how much that mandated safety feature tacked on that price tag. I did not have that choice. It was a safety feature that somebody smarter than me (not) determined is a necessary safety feature on my new car.

I am not saying we should all be putting ours and our families lives at any risk whatsoever. And again, I take my families safety more seriously than most. I do that out of my choice and responsibility. But this is America. A land founded upon individual choice. i only desire the opportunity to have that choice.
 
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#95
Aberdumbie said:
I am totally worth you. I too am lucky to have survived my daredevil youth... And again I emphasize, given the choice I will always choose safety for my family. In my maturity I understand now that I am no longer immortal.

I'll follow along with your auto analogy.... Years ago I bought my first car. I had the option of adding safety belts. It was an "option". My choice. I think I paid just south of 2500 for that car.

I recently purchased a new car for my wife. This car has a safety list that covers an encyclopedia, but I'll just focus one one... It is an internal emergency trunk release..... Well in my mind it is a pretty far stretch that would be an emergency feature I will ever use. I paid just south of 40,000 for my wife's new car. I just wonder how much that mandated safety feature tacked on that price tag. I did not have that choice. It was a safety feature that somebody smarter than me (not) determined is a necessary safety feature on my new car.

I am not saying we should all be putting ours and our families lives at any risk whatsoever. And again, I take my families safety more seriously than most. I do that out of my choice and responsibility. But this is America. A land founded upon individual choice. i only desire the opportunity to have that choice.
Click to expand...

There are some safety features you hope to never use - well, most actually. But if you need them, you'll be glad to have them. The 12-38 standard airbags in new cars these days cost $$ each. Putting a cable pull attached to the trunk lock? That's pretty cheap. The point of those is obviously to aboid someone getting locked in the trunk - as a prank, as an accident (?), or as part of a kidnapping. Making it mandatory that every new car has that feature suddenly takes the option of throwing someone in the trunk of a car not a good option. I don't know how often that happens, but you'd think if it only gets used one time each year across the US, that's still pretty good. When used, its probably saving someone's life. Just having it there and taking away the trunk transport option for bad guys is probably saving lives.

Now requiring that inside lock release on the Ford (?) truck side-bed boxes that even a baby couldn't fit inside? Eh, that's probably a bit wasteful... ;)
 
#97
I'm not objective on this as I started doing "risky" stuff (mostly skateboarding) at 37 so helmet for me was mandatory the moment I got on a piece of wood with wheels (and even some padding if what I'm doing goes beyond casual cruising). Still, I've always biked without a helmet, even FAST. IDK, I normally apply my 3 y/o kid what I'd apply to me. He rides with a helmet on now that he's just learning to pedal on a bike (so far with those little stabiliser wheels on) but I'll definitely add some pads and gloves if he starts going more than cruising speed or doing any risky tricks/stunts. Just don't overdo it. Lame people who overdo it are the reason we're WAY TOO MUCH regulated in every aspect of OUR lives. Politicians don't see society as the more bright/able of us but instead as the more stupid/inept of us and legislate accordingly.
 

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