‘Buckle your babes’

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January 30, 2010

Editorial for Jan. 31, 2010

Anonymous The Jacksonville Daily Progress Sat Jan 30, 2010, 03:30 PM CST

Tuesday’s one-car accident was tragic — five people were injured, and one man lost his life.

While the Texas Department of Public Safety does not yet know exactly what happened in the accident, investigators have confirmed one of the five injured was a 1-year-old child that was sitting on someone’s lap at the time of the accident.

While it’s incredibly tragic someone lost their life in the wreck, it is somewhat of a miracle the child, who was thrown from the car, survived.

It is difficult to chastize someone who has gone through a trauma like a fatal car wreck for something they did wrong, but the fact of the matter is the five adults in the car all knowingly broke the law by not having that baby secured in a car seat.

We are a country of freedom of choice, but when it comes to our smallest citizens, no amount of civil-liberty, freedom-of-choice jargon can ever fill the void when a child is killed in a car wreck because it was not properly secured in a safety seat.

Buckling a child in a safety seat is not a choice — it’s a must, no matter if you're taking a trip around the state or just around the block.

And no amount of praying or begging for forgiveness can wipe away the guilt of knowingly putting a child in harm’s way — especially when a tragedy like Tuesday afternoon’s accident strikes.

Remember: children do not have a choice when it comes to their own safety. They are at the complete mercy of the adults who care for them. Whether it's food, water, clean clothes, being buckled in a safety seat — that little one needs YOU to do all of that for them.

Surely no one in that car knew they would be in a wreck and a life would be lost that day. But regardless, that baby should have been in a safety seat.

Their accident was tragic proof that you never know when you might get into a wreck, so you should always, without exception, buckle your children into a safety seat designed for their body size.

And while miracles are wonderful when they happen, they can not and should not be relied on to save a child’s life — especially when the need for a miracle can be prevented in the first place.

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‘Buckle your babes’

Editorial for Jan. 31, 2010

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