I think every parent wants to keep their child safe. The problem is that there is a real cost to safety, and that cost is not entirely in the form of dollars. At some point, safety innovations have diminishing returns, for ever increasing costs.
Someone invariably points to a study or crash test that shows how a child of a particular size, in a particular vehicle, at a particular speed, involved in a particular type of impact could have survived a crash if only a certain type of car seat had been used properly. The question then becomes, how could you NOT spend $X to save your child’s life? Wouldn’t you pay every last dollar you have to save your child?
Of course a parent would. The problem is that not all crashes are the same, and crashes do not happen to an individual every day, or even every year or decade. There are real costs incurred, in the form of convenience, and comfort (which I just know someone will tell me have no value when compared to safety). I want to keep my kids safe - absolutely! I know, however, that I cannot ever be 100% certain of safety. There are just too many variables, and we cannot study every circumstance. There are some crashes where survival is better if no seatbelts are worn at all! (I always wear a seat belt, and so do my children, so please don’t go there.) The best I can do is take reasonable precautions to ensure safety, without hampering quality of life.
Take rear facing seats, for example. Some children (and adults too, for that matter) suffer from severe motion sickness. The experience of motion sickness is made markedly worse when facing any direction other than forwards (trust me on this one, I have been car sick too many times to count). A parent will need to weigh the cost of increased nausea and vomiting for their child against the safety improvements gained from an additional year (or two or three) of rear facing seat use. If your child does not suffer from motion sickness, then this will likely be a non-issue. If your child does suffer from motion sickness, the thought of subjecting your child to an extra year (or two or three) of vomiting and discomfort may not seem worth the potential benefit. Each parent will need to decide.
If we are really so concerned about safety, perhaps we should all wear helmets, all the time. After all, our heads are extremely vulnerable, and there are many ways injury can occur. Walking on the beach in a tropical setting, for instance carries a risk of death. Did you know that people die from coconuts falling on their heads? Lets all wear helmets on the beach!
I can extend this thinking to my cats. I recently had three cats, who were feral at birth, born in our barn. I only have two now. If I had not allowed them to go outside, I would undoubtedly still have the third cat. I am not sorry I allow the cats to go outside during the day. My cat may have lived a longer life, but he would have been miserable. A life of confinement for a previously wild animal is no life at all. It is a tragedy.
Please, lets everyone choose the best safety measures they can for their own family, and do not condemn those who are unwilling to pay the extra cost you feel is justified. It may be justified for you, but it is not acceptable to another. That doesn’t mean that other person is a bad person, or reckless. They have just come to a different conclusion than you.
There’s my :twocents:
) There are no guarantees in life.
