Photo: Facebook / Chad Mock
An incident involving a toddler made international headlines last week, as the child fell from the back of the mother’s car while still strapped in the carseat. The mother continued driving and only returned for the child 15 minutes after the fact.
You can see the footage at the bottom of the page as well. It was captured on the dashcam of Chad Mock, a professional truck driver who thought he had seen it all – until he saw the child toppled out of the moving car, in the middle of a busy street in Mankato, Minnesota.
He stopped the car and went to help the child, who seemed securely strapped in the carseat. The mother continued driving and didn’t notice that the back door had opened and the child slipped out. She returned to retrieve the kid about 15 minutes later, when the police had already arrived and an ambulance worker had checked on the toddler.
Identified as Maimuna Kunow Hassan, the mother has been formally charged, Fox9 reports. She has been slapped with a charge of endangering a child, which carries a maximum of 1 year in jail and a $3,000 fine, and a charge of improperly restraining the toddler in the carseat. She has also been found in violation of her instructional driver’s permit, which required another licensed driver in the car. There wasn’t one.
As for how Hassan explained how come she didn’t see her child fall out of the car, carseat and all, she argued that she had no idea this was even a possibility. She claims the carseat was secured.
“Hassan told police the door popped open while she was driving and her child fell out. She parked the car along the 200 block of E Cherry Street and walked back to where her two-year-old fell out. She claimed the child was secured and must have unlocked the car door,” the publication reports.
“An officer inspected the car seat and found the chest straps were not latched and there was not a LATCH strap to secure the car seat to the car. Hassan's car, a 2004 Honda Civic, is LATCH-compatible. Inside the vehicle, he noted there was not a seat restraint system,” Fox9 adds.
Needless to say, the very point of a carseat is annulled if the carseat is not properly secured to the vehicle. Just strapping a kid in means nothing in case of an accident, if the carseat is not secured too.
He stopped the car and went to help the child, who seemed securely strapped in the carseat. The mother continued driving and didn’t notice that the back door had opened and the child slipped out. She returned to retrieve the kid about 15 minutes later, when the police had already arrived and an ambulance worker had checked on the toddler.
Identified as Maimuna Kunow Hassan, the mother has been formally charged, Fox9 reports. She has been slapped with a charge of endangering a child, which carries a maximum of 1 year in jail and a $3,000 fine, and a charge of improperly restraining the toddler in the carseat. She has also been found in violation of her instructional driver’s permit, which required another licensed driver in the car. There wasn’t one.
As for how Hassan explained how come she didn’t see her child fall out of the car, carseat and all, she argued that she had no idea this was even a possibility. She claims the carseat was secured.
“Hassan told police the door popped open while she was driving and her child fell out. She parked the car along the 200 block of E Cherry Street and walked back to where her two-year-old fell out. She claimed the child was secured and must have unlocked the car door,” the publication reports.
“An officer inspected the car seat and found the chest straps were not latched and there was not a LATCH strap to secure the car seat to the car. Hassan's car, a 2004 Honda Civic, is LATCH-compatible. Inside the vehicle, he noted there was not a seat restraint system,” Fox9 adds.
Needless to say, the very point of a carseat is annulled if the carseat is not properly secured to the vehicle. Just strapping a kid in means nothing in case of an accident, if the carseat is not secured too.
Google News