Police warn of breastfeeding driving

KIRSTY JOHNSTON

Mothers caught breastfeeding while travelling on the motorway are among thousands of unwitting parents endangering babies in cars, experts say.

Details were made public yesterday of three Auckland women who had been caught feeding infants while they were passengers in vehicles on the city's motorways. Police said they were shocked at the discovery.

"If they had to stop their vehicle suddenly, or they were involved in a serious crash, the infant would surely be ejected from the vehicle," Inspector Shanan Gray said.

"There's no question it's going to cause serious injury, if not death, to the child."

Other children had been found in foot wells and car boots, with parents receiving warnings and fines to deter repeat offending.

However, child safety advocates say many other parents were also endangering their children's lives, despite believing that they were acting safely.

Safe Kids director Ann Weaver said four out of five car seats were incorrectly fitted by parents.

"People use car restraints but don't use them correctly so they're still putting their children at risk," she said.

"But they are people who try and I can understand because they're very complicated. To not use one at all is just irresponsible."

Ms Weaver said one child a week was admitted to hospital as the result of a car crash. Each year, 16 children were killed.

Plunket national child safety adviser Sue Campbell said even if babies were crying in cars, that was no excuse to take them out of their seats.

"They should take an exit off the motorway and find somewhere to pull over and feed them and then carry on driving," she said.

"To have a child unrestrained while being breastfed, [or] sitting in the vehicle boot or foot well is a recipe for disaster. A child becomes a missile in a crash or sudden stop."

Both organisations had produced many safety campaigns and DVDs, but they believed the message about the need for car restraints for children just was not getting through to some people.

Cost was not a factor, they said, because there were many schemes designed to help those struggling with their finances.

Inspector Gray said the 10-day police operation was the result of a recent increase in the number of serious crashes where children had been passengers.

"Crash data shows that in the majority of these cases the children were either inappropriately restrained or not restrained at all," he said.

Most drivers spoken to about child restraints displayed some knowledge and meant well but failed to understand the minimum safety requirements, he said. Fairfax NZ

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