Submitted by Stephanie Tombrello, executive director of SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A
The troubling case of two small children ejected and seriously injured last week in a rollover crash in Antioch in northern California highlights a little-noticed risk to kids—being killed or injured while being driven by a parent or caregiver under the influence of alcohol or other drugs.
The two boys, ages three years and eight months, reportedly were unrestrained in the car when it rolled over in the single-vehicle incident. Both children were ejected, leaving the three-year-old in critical condition with head injuries and the baby also seriously hurt.
CHP reported that two car seats were found in the car but were not in use at the time of the crash. Three adults, including the children’s mother, did not require hospitalization. The driver, who reportedly was not wearing a safety belt, had critical injuries.
The pattern is all too familiar to Stephanie Tombrello, executive director of SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. “Almost 400 kids die on our roads each year in DUI-involved crashes, and many more are injured. Twenty-five percent of the crashes that kill children involve alcohol. Many of these kids aren’t placed at risk by a stranger but by the person driving their vehicle,” Tombrello said.
“These tiny children had no say about whether or not they got in the car with an impaired driver. Too many kids are killed or injured by the actions of people who are supposed to protect them. Most of these deaths and injuries are preventable. Inmost DUI crashes involving a child fatality, the driver survives. Unfortunately, these kids are especially vulnerable because DUI drivers frequently do not take the time to ensure that the kids in their care are buckled up-even when, as in this case, a safety seat is available in the car. Passengers who are not buckled into a safety belt or safety seat are often ejected from the car, which makes them four times more likely to be killed.”
Figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that alcohol-related traffic fatalities are at their highest rate for ten years.
The majority of children killed in DUI crashes—68% in recent years—are riding with the DUI driver.
SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. is campaigning to reduce the number of children involved in DUI-related incidents, supported by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. recommends that:
• Enhanced penalties be faced by DUI drivers who drive with children in the car.
• Child endangerment charges be brought against parents who allow their kids to be driven by a DUI driver.
• The media highlight this little-known risk to children, so that parents, policy makers, and enforcement agencies are made more aware of the severity of the risk of impaired driving to children.
• Civil courts ensure that children are not put at risk by DUI parents through court-mandated visitation rights; and driving with children while impaired be clearly stated as a consideration in custody or visitation decisions.
• Criminal courts address the issue of impaired driving with children in the car when sentencing DUI drivers.
• Parents educate themselves and their children about how they can protect themselves from impaired drivers. Parents can teach their children to buckle up and be good role models by wearing their own safety belts so they are less likely to be injured if they are involved in a DUI crash.
Tombrello’s message is unequivocal. “Driving while under the influence with a child in the car, or allowing your child to be driven by an impaired driver, is child abuse. We should treat it as such.”
