When I first saw these pictures of Britney driving with Sean Preston slumped over in his carseat in the back I thought, "oh, how cute, my son does that too." The thing is, I was thinking of him sleeping in his stroller, not his car seat. I also forgot that my son's car seat was until recently rear-facing as is required by law in the states for children under the age of one. My son never falls over like that when he's sleeping in the car, because he's strapped in tight.
Britney could get in trouble with Children and Family Services yet again:
"It's far safer if the seat is facing backwards to avoid head-on injuries and whiplash in case of a collision," said California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Marshall.
Spears, 24, "could be" cited for violating Section 27360 of the California Vehicle Code, which says child safety seats must be installed to comply with the federal standard.
"We would have to witness the violation. We can't issue a citation from a photograph," Marshall said.
"It's a bit of a gray area," he added, because state code doesn't specify the backward installation - a federal regulation does.
Spears' rep did not return calls for comment yesterday.
"We strongly urge anyone who is uncertain of how to install a car seat to come down to one of our headquarters and get help. We offer that service free of charge," said Marshall.
We installed car seats for our son in both of our cars about a week before he was born. Before we were allowed to leave the birthing center with our newborn, they checked the car to make sure we had a car seat and that it was installed properly. Britney or one of her handlers didn't know better when they put this seat in her new car, and obviously no one bothered to make sure it met regulations.
If she does get some kind of warning for this, it won't be her first. She's being monitored by the Department of Children and Family services, and will receive regular visits from the agency as a result of a head injury that eight month-old Sean Preston sustained when his hairchair supposedly snapped. (Although witnesses claimed SP also fell off the couch when Kevin was meant to be watching him, and that could have caused the injury.)
Britney was also famously pictured driving with Sean Preston on her lap, and refused to take responsibility for the incident, blaming the paparrazi for hounding her.
In terms of child endangerment, installing a carseat wrong is dangerous but seems like a legitimate mistake. At least she put him in the carseat this time.
Pictures [via]
Written by Celebitchy
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Oh lord, she simply doesn't seem to get it right.. I feel sorry for her that she gets attacked by the media that much, but COME ON - she doesn't really do anything to prove the opposite, does she?