This is a recent picture from Haiti, and I had to chuckle when I saw our 1-year old son sitting in the front seat of a moving pickup truck with his hand resting comfortably out the open window. Not to mention that he is one of two babies on his nanny's lap, with no seatbelts. These things wouldn't happen in the USA, but they are quite normal in Haiti (where the driving, incidentally, is white-knuckled fear and trembling much of the time!)
Here in Chile I have heard through word of mouth that there is some sort of carseat law. However, I have rarely seen it implemented and I've never seen it enforced. Personally we do try, for the most part, to continue with these safety measures as we learned them in the States. We're just a little more flexible than we used to be. For instance, our 4-year old uses only a booster seat and if the occasion calls for transporting extra people in the car and the booster doesn't fit, it goes in the trunk.
This past weekend, we unwittingly tested my enforcement theory. It was the first day of our new kids' club in Alto Hospicio, and since we purchased our 9-passenger van for just this purpose, we packed it full of people for the drive up the mountain. The middle seat in the front next to the driver is comfortable only for a small person because of the gearshift, so on these occasions the kids get to take turns riding up front and think it's a great treat. It was Owen's turn and so we carefully buckled our 4-year old into the front of our van ... no car seat ... no big deal ... until we were stopped for a random police check on our way up the mountain!
All of a sudden the possibility that car seat rules really were a big deal flashed through my mind. The carabinero asked for documents as his eyes settled on the small figure peering over the dashboard. Sure enough, his very first question was about Owen.
"Where did this beautiful child come from?"
And that was it. Only admiration for Owen; some questions about Pedro's American driver's license (he cannot get a Chilean one until our permanent residency comes through and according to the Department of Transportation is legally allowed to drive on a US license until then) ... and then we were off with a smile and wave.
Like I said, things that wouldn't happen in the USA ... but maybe Chile isn't so far removed from Haiti as we thought! :)
Here in Chile I have heard through word of mouth that there is some sort of carseat law. However, I have rarely seen it implemented and I've never seen it enforced. Personally we do try, for the most part, to continue with these safety measures as we learned them in the States. We're just a little more flexible than we used to be. For instance, our 4-year old uses only a booster seat and if the occasion calls for transporting extra people in the car and the booster doesn't fit, it goes in the trunk.
This past weekend, we unwittingly tested my enforcement theory. It was the first day of our new kids' club in Alto Hospicio, and since we purchased our 9-passenger van for just this purpose, we packed it full of people for the drive up the mountain. The middle seat in the front next to the driver is comfortable only for a small person because of the gearshift, so on these occasions the kids get to take turns riding up front and think it's a great treat. It was Owen's turn and so we carefully buckled our 4-year old into the front of our van ... no car seat ... no big deal ... until we were stopped for a random police check on our way up the mountain!
All of a sudden the possibility that car seat rules really were a big deal flashed through my mind. The carabinero asked for documents as his eyes settled on the small figure peering over the dashboard. Sure enough, his very first question was about Owen.
"Where did this beautiful child come from?"
And that was it. Only admiration for Owen; some questions about Pedro's American driver's license (he cannot get a Chilean one until our permanent residency comes through and according to the Department of Transportation is legally allowed to drive on a US license until then) ... and then we were off with a smile and wave.
Like I said, things that wouldn't happen in the USA ... but maybe Chile isn't so far removed from Haiti as we thought! :)
1 comment:
This story gets better all the time! Love and miss you all. Mom
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