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That's dangerous that the seats can just flip like that. Were they not locked into place properly, or is that just how the van was designed?
Sounds like they are similar to the back seats in the Ford Freestar. Those flip literally into the floor, so it looks like there is no back seat. But those have safety releases on them.
You tell your children to not go anywhere with strangers, look both ways berfore you cross the street etc. Nothing prepares you for this. .
We also tell kids to call the police or 911 when they get into a bad situation, and that they can get help that way. But the 911 dispatcher and police department both failed this young boy, in every way possible. It seems they did not care. They had two hours (I think?) before he died, to respond. What were doing they doing? My hope is that, if they aren't fired, they will respectfully resign from their job positions. They should not be working in this area, as they aren't responsible enough for this type of work.
My 14 year old son is sort of like that where his motor skills aren't the same as 14 year olds of past gen. I blame that on smartphones and kids being less active these days. I grew up playing sports, helping my parents fixing things and driving at an early age. Kids these days aren't interested in handling equipment because too much safety and overly protective parents. Few go out to play ball and very few are interested in fixing things or doing crafts around the house. Even fewer today are interested in fixing cars or having a car when their parents drive them around including using Uber. We're conditioning our kids to become less handy and more dependent on parents for everything. Fortunately I have a younger son who loves to help me around the house and do things like using a drill or hammer and he's only 12. He has much better motor skills than the older brother. I'm sure if they're both stuck in a minivan only one could get out.
My 14 year old son is sort of like that where his motor skills aren't the same as 14 year olds of past gen. I blame that on smartphones and kids being less active these days. I grew up playing sports, helping my parents fixing things and driving at an early age. Kids these days aren't interested in handling equipment because too much safety and overly protective parents. Few go out to play ball and very few are interested in fixing things or doing crafts around the house. Even fewer today are interested in fixing cars or having a car when their parents drive them around including using Uber. We're conditioning our kids to become less handy and more dependent on parents for everything. Fortunately I have a younger son who loves to help me around the house and do things like using a drill or hammer and he's only 12. He has much better motor skills than the older brother. I'm sure if they're both stuck in a minivan only one could get out.
Um. This boy was a tennis player, so I’m sure he was physically fit and flexibility. Sometimes there are just freak accidents.
This is not a mechanical flaw or a failure/durability problem. The seat is designed to work this way. It has a pull that you can reach from behind that permits the third row seat to fold, flip over, and nest in the rear well. Since this boy was leaning over the seat, he accidentally pulled that unlatching lever while trying to get his cell phone. Seat then rotated and trapped him head down between the seat and rear tailgate. His weight held this death trap in place, it was not a problem with lack of safety release or a broken mechanism.
This is an extremely rare event, but lawsuits are completely justifiable for the vehicle manufacturer, the incompetent 911 operator and the police department that decided that this was a "prank" call even after the boy exactly described the van model, color and location.
Call came in around 1 PM. As I understand it, parents found him themselves around 9 PM. Can't imagine ever being in a nightmare like that.
Um. This boy was a tennis player, so I’m sure he was physically fit and flexibility. Sometimes there are just freak accidents.
Being a tennis player doesn't mean you have good motor skills. There are guys who hit 50+ homeruns and can't change an air filter or figure out how to do so. That's the skill that's lacking these days, too many kids lack the motor skills to figure out basic mechanical problems.
For example a lot of people don't know how to change the seat position if it doesn't have buttons. They don't know there are levers and switches under the chair for that.
My 14 year old son is sort of like that where his motor skills aren't the same as 14 year olds of past gen. I blame that on smartphones and kids being less active these days. I grew up playing sports, helping my parents fixing things and driving at an early age. Kids these days aren't interested in handling equipment because too much safety and overly protective parents. Few go out to play ball and very few are interested in fixing things or doing crafts around the house. Even fewer today are interested in fixing cars or having a car when their parents drive them around including using Uber. We're conditioning our kids to become less handy and more dependent on parents for everything. Fortunately I have a younger son who loves to help me around the house and do things like using a drill or hammer and he's only 12. He has much better motor skills than the older brother. I'm sure if they're both stuck in a minivan only one could get out.
So why didn't you, as the parent, counteract that by getting him involved in physical activity?? A teenager can't get a smart phone on their own, either signing the contract for it, or paying for it. If he isn't active it's because his dear Mom or Dad (both, actually) didn't encourage it in his formative years. Way to throw your son under the bus for YOUR failure as a parent, though.
My 2 nephews aren't like that, because my brother and his now ex-wife encourage a full slate of activity. The boys are both in high school and play multiple sports, the younger one does football (he was a member of the team when they won the Sectional Championship in 2016) and indoor track, plus he used to compete in Nordic skiing up until last year, and the older one runs cross country (he has a Sectional Championship patch as well for this sport, two of them in fact) and Nordic skis, both on the high school team (co-captain this past season) and on the regional level. He made it to Junior Nationals this year and spent a week in Utah last month competing in multiple events. He also has played guitar for years.
They both compete in local races like the Mud Run and various half-marathons, and enjoy recreational skiing and mountain biking with both parents.
They do get screen time too, but they are much more focused on other activities, including school, where they are both Honors students.
Last edited by ContraPagan; 04-13-2018 at 02:41 PM..
Being a tennis player doesn't mean you have good motor skills. There are guys who hit 50+ homeruns and can't change an air filter or figure out how to do so. That's the skill that's lacking these days, too many kids lack the motor skills to figure out basic mechanical problems.
For example a lot of people don't know how to change the seat position if it doesn't have buttons. They don't know there are levers and switches under the chair for that.
"Motor" skills refer to physical skills like hand and finger dexterity, not mental or problem solving skills. The two are totally different.
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His parents have no actionable tort, except possibly against Honda.
I'm familiar with Seven Hills, since I'm staying in Cincinnati.
You just can't say "I'm in a parking lot at Seven Hills."
There are dozens of parking lots in Seven Hills, not only are there parking lots off of Seven Hills Drive, which is a thoroughfare through the community and could easily be misconstrued by the dispatcher and police, there's the very large parking lot at Seven Hills Plaza, not to mention the strip malls along US 127/Hamilton Avenue and all of the businesses along Waycross Road.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
Absolutely horrible. I can't even imagine.
I'm not going to fault a teenager who is being asphyxiated for not thinking with a completely clear mind, but it's such an incredible shame that he wasn't able to be more specific in his first call. "I'm in a gold Honda Odyssey minivan, license plate XYZ-123, at Seven Hills School, in the west parking lot, near the driveway." Maybe, if he had been able to do this, maybe he could have been found and saved.
But like I said, I am NOT casting blame on him. Few people would have been able to be so self-composed in such a dire situation.
That's exactly right.
The younger people are too overly reliant on technology, thinking it will save them.
When I was in elementary school, we used to practice for emergencies at home. That was before the 9-1-1 system existed, and you had to call either the operator, or your local police or emergency services and tell them very clearly your name, address and the nature of the emergency. We practiced that from Kindergarten all the way through 6th Grade and had to memorize the telephone numbers.
Sad story, freak accident, no one should be sued.
Cell phones, gps, 911, police etc, will never be able to assure a successful outcome for everyone, every time.
Such is life..
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