RESPONSIBILITY

There is so much in life that we can't control.

We aren't as powerful and self-determining as we like to think.

It's because I often find myself at the mercy of things I can't control that I jump at the chance to choose the direction of my life whenever I can.

The following story is so tragic. There's so much misery because the people involved chose to behave in a reckless, lawless, irresponsible manner.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Police are not recommending charges against a woman in the death of her 5-month-old son who had been riding on her lap when a suspected drunken driver crashed into a vehicle in which they were passengers.

Milwaukee police Capt. Michael Young said Saturday that the accident report will be turned over to the Milwaukee County district attorney's office over the holiday weekend for review. He said it will be up to the district attorney to decide whether to charge the mother for not having her son in an infant safety seat.

Christian Garcia-Chavez died after being crushed between his mother and the dashboard in the crash early Friday morning in the 3900 block of S. Whitnall Ave. He was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin.

An autopsy was done Saturday, but the medical examiner's office declined to release the results.

The boy was riding on his mother's lap in the front passenger seat when a 31-year-old man driving a Chevy pickup truck failed to stop at a blinking red light and slammed into the passenger side of the Ford Ranger.

Police declined to release the name of the mother, 30, or the 36-year-old man who was driving the Ford Ranger, both of whom were injured. A 3-year-old boy in the back seat of the Ranger complained of head pain. It is unknown whether the toddler was properly restrained.

The 31-year-old driver of the Chevy was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving but has not been charged. He remains in police custody.

...Wisconsin law has safety seat requirements for all children younger than 8.

Children younger than 1 or less than 20 pounds must be restrained in a rear-facing child safety seat in the back seat of the vehicle.

A five-month-old baby boy is dead.

Why?

An alleged drunk driver ran a red light.

And, in violation of Wisconsin law, the baby was not properly secured in a safety seat.

Charges are in order, for both the drunk driver and the careless mother.

No one would argue that the driver should be charged.

Some might say that the mother is suffering enough. There's no need to pile on by charging her. She already has received a punishment that she will take to her grave.

I don't mean to be cold-hearted. I assume the mother is grieving over the loss of her son, but I don't think that it serves society to allow people to break the law with impunity.

Why have laws if they aren't enforced? If putting an infant in a car seat is optional, then get rid of the meaningless laws.

Look at this, from Wisconsin's Department of Transportation:

There will be a 6-month grace period in which written warnings may be issued for any child passenger violations (under Wisconsin Statute 347.48(4) ). The grace period ends December 31st, 2006.

Grace period?

Watch video from Today's TMJ4.

From the accompanying story:

One child safety expert said parents should remember to keep young children in car seats. She said the infant's injuries would have likely been far less serious if he had been in one.

"A lot of things are happening this time of year," said Bridget Clementi, Children's Health Education Center. "We really are rushed with all the things for the holidays, and we don't always take a moment to make safety a priority. And we think it's not going to happen to us. (People think) 'I only have to run to the grocery store, we're just running up the block and it's not going to happen.'"

My heart breaks for the dead child and the dead child's mother.

His death probably could have been avoided.

It didn't have to happen.

What a heavy burden that mother has to carry!

There's no question that the alleged drunk driver bears responsibility for getting behind the wheel, blowing through a flashing red light, and causing the crash.

His choice to drink and drive resulted in a death. INEXCUSABLE.

Negligence isn't an accident. It's a choice.

The driver has royally screwed up his life because he played a major role in the baby's death. He was horribly irreponsible, and hopefully he'll pay for what he's done. He's a killer and should not be allowed on the road to kill again.

Then we have the mother.

I would never drive without putting my precious baby in a proper car seat. NEVER. EVER.

Especially at 3:00 am, when drunks are out on the roads, or drivers may be sleepy, how could this mother be so irresponsible?

Bridget Clementi, from the Children's Health Education Center, makes the appropriate point -- that a child must always be in a safety seat.

However, I think her comment about being "rushed with all the things for the holidays" is a bit odd.

I'm sure she's not excusing the 30-year-old mother's actions, but it sounds like Clementi is cutting her a little too much slack.

"It's the holidays. People get rushed. Stuff happens."

Huh?

Being rushed for the holidays is no excuse to fail to care for your baby.

Sure, people are rushed at this time of year. Work piles up. They forget to do things, like pick up dry cleaning; but a parent does NOT forget to put a child in a safety seat.

Because people are rushed as they prepare for the holidays, they don't bother to do all that they should, like take the car in for an oil change on time. A parent does NOT fail to take the time to put a child in a safety seat.

There are things that a responsible person NEVER does.

One NEVER drives drunk.

One NEVER is reckless when it comes to the safety of one's child.

NEVER.

EVER.

Why not?

Death.