Tell Your Elected Officials to Lock That Kid Up Now!

We have all seen it: You are driving down the street and see a young child climbing around the back seat of a car without a seat belt. My first reaction is always, “What are those parents thinking. LOCK THAT KID UP!” Who knows what happens in the back of minivans with more room to move around. When I researched this article, I was dumbfounded on the lack of any bite to truly enforce child restraint responsibilities.

The child restraint laws in Florida are short and to the point. Section 316.613, Florida Statutes, states in part, “For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device must be a separate carrier or a vehicle manufacturer’s integrated child seat. For children aged 4 through 5 years, a separate carrier, an integrated child seat, or a seat belt may be used.”

After age 5, section 316.614, Florida Statutes, requires everyone under 18 in a vehicle to wear a seat belt. Passengers over 18 must wear a seat belt in the front seat only. 

So far, so good. However, things start to get frustrating from here. Under section 316.613, the massive penalty for failing to keep small children properly restrained in a moving vehicle – where even a low-impact crash can cause serious damage –is the very serious deterrent of $60 and three points against the driver’s license. 

Since $60 and three points is completely unreasonable in light of the risks facing small children unrestrained in an accident for some people, the law allows a driver to avoid the huge financial penalty and token point assessment by participating in a child safety restraint program.

I do not know about you, but I find the child restraint laws to be clear on two points: (1) responsible adults will do the right thing; and for irresponsible violators, (2) the law says “but we do not really care if you violate it.” 

By contrast, if you leave your child in a stopped vehicle unattended for longer than 15 minutes or in a “dangerous situation” for any length of time, you may face criminal charges, up to a $500 fine and an officer may use any reasonable means possible to protect the child. Section 316.6135, Florida Statutes.  

However, I have not found any court case or statute that provides for criminal penalties for failing to properly restrain a child in a moving vehicle. If anyone knows of one, please post it. 

Here is the problem in my humble opinion:  a parent or caregiver that doesn’t bother to secure a child in a vehicle that can legally travel up to 70 mph on a highway in the middle of the night during a rain storm has no real consequences under Florida statutes. How this less dangerous than leaving a child in a vehicle turned off at a convenience store while the parent or caregiver makes a purchase? 

Don’t get me wrong, I think our elected officials are traveling on the right road with criminal penalties for leaving children in a vehicle. Why don’t we have the same repercussions when we are driving the children? As this article published out of the University of Chicago notes related to unrestrained children, “The differences between unrestrained passengers [children] and those using any of the three [child] restraints are highly statistically significant for all injury categories in all of the data sets.” 

I get back to the title of this article:  Tallahassee, LOCK THESE KIDS UP.

There is some hope from the court system. Relying on the theory of negligence, a few courts have found that drivers can be liable for more serious monetary damages than what the statute allows when a child is injured for not being properly restrained in a vehicle. For those that are interested, one case is Cybroski v. Wright, 927 So. 2d 1089 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) and another is Quarantello v. Leroy, 977 So. 2d 648 (Fla. 5th DCA 2008). 

I wonder whether the Department of Children and Families would consider an injury to a child unrestrained and injured as grounds for starting an investigation on the parents. I also wonder whether a family law court would consider a similar injury as abuse or neglect to affect “custody” (time-sharing). 

I believe that the courts and the state attorneys would be willing to hold parents responsible if they are given the authority from our elected officials. Again, let’s lock these kids up, Florida.