posted on March 2, 2009 07:13:02 AM new
Oh, brother. Now I've heard it all!
KETTERING, Ohio -- A Dayton, Ohio, mother faces charges for breast-feeding her daughter while driving her other children to school, television station WHIO reported.
Genine Compton was pulled over by Kettering police Thursday while taking her children to school.
Police said Compton could have injured her child and others because she was breast-feeding and talking on the cell phone while driving the vehicle.
Compton was issued citations for child endangerment and violating a child restraint law. Compton told the station, "If my child's hungry, I'm going to feed it."
Police said it is against the law in Ohio to drive with a child in your lap. Children under 4 or 40 pounds must be properly restrained in a child safety seat.
In this case, officers said Compton had the child in the lap with the baby's head up against the steering wheel. They said there was not only the risk of a crash but also deployment of the air bag.
Compton said she will take the advice of the officers into consideration, but she may breast-feed her baby while driving in the future if she feels that it is necessary.
She could face up to 180 days in jail and fines for the child endangerment citation.
posted on March 2, 2009 07:47:52 AM new
I'm not sure that 180 days of keeping the children away from her will help, but it's a start.
We on-demand breast-fed our kids, but either I drove while my wife fed them, or there's always the idea of pulling over. Sure, the other kids would be late for school, but it's much better than being dead.
posted on March 2, 2009 09:18:22 AM new
Wow! That takes multi tasking to a deadly level of danger.
But I don't believe that jailing the mother is an effective solution. I've read that cell phone providers could use GPS to make a phone traveling over 10 mph inoperable. That service combined with laws against their use in every state could have a significant impact.
David L. Strayer's research confirms that any use of phones, even hands free use reduces a driver's attention significantly.
My problem with the automated turn-off of cell phones is that we usually have the passenger make phone calls when we're going somewhere (e.g., "we're going to be late".
I don't know that jail is a great idea, but something should be done. This mother is not only increasing the likelihood of an accident (probably at least 20-fold), but the baby is sure to die if there's a collision sufficient to deploy the airbags. I doubt that she has enough presence of mind if an accident is imminent to throw her baby in the passenger footwell (sounds harsh, but it is probably the only thing that would save its life).
posted on March 2, 2009 10:13:25 AM new
It's her statement that she'd do it again that led me to say jail time would be best. She seems to be defiant and seems to care less that she's endangering the lives of her children! If she's this reckless on the road, I can only imagine what she's like at home.
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