(STORY IMAGE:KHQ.COM)
SPOKANE, Wash. -One woman is hoping her message gets out to everyone especially with the increased travel we’re seeing for the holidays after she saw something that alarmed her while she was on the road.
Summer Paurus was traveling south along Ash Street on Saturday when she saw a couple driving with an infant in the front seat.
“She was just holding him in her lap,” Summer says. “Severely unsafe. And at one point the man was on his phone, which is not okay.”
Summer wasn't driving, so took a photo, which showed the mother wasn’t even buckled in.
It's Washington state law for children to be in a child or booster seat until they're eight years old or 4’9” or taller. Organizations for child safety, like Safe Kids, also say infants should ride in rear-facing seats until they're two years old.
Summer's been a nanny for at least four years. She says she rolled down the window to try to speak with the woman in the car, but that person didn't respond. She says doesn't know if they had a car seat in the back, and hopes that what happened was just a one-time mistake. But, she did report it to police and hopes that if other people are witnesses to something like this, they’ll call it in too.
“I just hope that child safety is very important to those especially on a holiday weekend and such a busy weekend and I would hope that more people would pay attention to it,” she says.
For a holiday travel safety checklist: https://www.safekids.org/checklist/holiday-travel-safety-checklist
For a car seat guide: https://www.safekids.org/ultimate-car-seat-guide/basic-tips/when-to-change/#1