Police charge man for using case of beer in place of toddler's car seat

Updated
Canadian police charged a driver for allowing a 2-year-old child to sit on a case of beer in the front seat of his car, instead of a carseat. (Photo: Twitter/OPP_WR)
Canadian police charged a driver for allowing a 2-year-old child to sit on a case of beer in the front seat of his car, instead of a carseat. (Photo: Twitter/OPP_WR)

Police in Ontario Canada, pulled over a driver Tuesday after someone called in an anonymous complaint: A 2-year-old passenger was riding shotgun, strapped to a 30-can case of beer, in lieu of a car seat.

The driver, a 22-year-old man who was not identified by name in order to protect the child, was charged with failing to ensure the toddler was properly secured. “Driver used a case of beer for a booster-seat,” tweeted the police department.

The department added in a later tweet that the case was “factory sealed,” which meant the driver was not charged with an open container violation.

Luckily, the 2-year-old was unharmed, but CTV News reports that Family & Children’s Services was notified and an appropriate car seat was brought to the site.

While the event was met by jokes on social media, it highlighted the importance of car seat safety for children.

According to Car Seats for the Littles, a non-profit organization founded by child passenger safety technicians in the United States and Canada, children should sit rear-facing in the backseat of a vehicle until a minimum age of 2 or they reach the height and weight limits for their five-point harness carseats.

When children have outgrown the rear-facing limits of their seats (and are at minimum, the age of 2), they can forward-face, also in a five-point harness seat. When children outgrow the weight-and-height requirements of their forward-facing seats (and are at least 5-years-old), they can graduate to a “belt positioning” booster seat (either high-back or backless depending on maturity levels) until they fit into a seatbelt.

Additionally, the car seat should be in the backseat and not the front, where air bags can severely injure small children.

Yahoo Lifestyle reached out to Ontario Provincial Police department, but they could not be reached for comment.

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