Police in Fort Wayne arrested a man after they say he drove three blocks with four children strapped on the hood of his car.The maddeningly cryptic story leaves it unclear as to whether this was being done as a punishment or a reward or just, you know, because beer.
Or maybe it's because it's illegal to let the kids ride in the back of the pickup truck, while the law is (understandably) vague on the legality of strapping them to the bonnet like Bambi's mom.
(H/T to Shootin' Buddy, whose nose for news of this sort makes him a veritable one-man Indiana Chamber of Commerce.)
27 comments:
Faster Daddy, faster!
Gerry
He did claim that he thought the children would enjoy the ride. So, this was presumable a reward.
How fast did he go? How well were they strapped on? What sort of traffic? Was he sober?
Is this really an arresting offense? It's stupid, but wouldn't just telling the mom be enough?
We rode in the back of pickups. Sure, we could have died if there had been an accident. I dunno if it's smart, but I question if it should be illegal.
ASM826,
I'm just reporting, not editorializing.
I'm more aghast that the AP is apparently hired "Unfrozen Caveman Writer".
"Your web form frightens and confuses me!"
He was just complying with the seatbelt law.
Maybe it was post-hunting, like deer?
guffaw
The Journal Gazette has a more complete version of the story, now.
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120509/LOCAL07/305099966/1043/SEARCH
Apparently three of the kids were the driver's, and they were taken home by their mother. The older kid was the daughter of the woman in the car, and taken into child services custody. The driver and woman passenger live on the same block, both were charged with endangering their respective dependents.
The kids were tied on to the "large, white" vehicle with a tow strap.
He did have the kids "strapped in", but not actually in the back seat.
I wonder they didn't nail the guy for driving with an obstructed view, sorta like not scraping the frost off a frozen windshield. Only different, with kids moving and yelling.
The Fr. Wayne blood alcohol limit is apparently 0.08%; the driver's "two beers at home" tested out at 0.17%. Then there were the two cold magnums in the pink backpack. .
This seems to me to be a clear case of profiling (the liquor store owner was picking on only the drunk drivers), and after all, no one was hurt, until the kids had to be separated to Mom and to child protective services. And Dad went to jail. And felony charges, etc. Not to mention the US Marshal that interrupted the kids' fun ride right out there in the breeze. And no one has mentioned whether the dude drove worse or better when sober; he may not have any practice at all, driving sober.
I ain't trying this, not the driving under the influence, not the kids tacked onto the vehicle any which-way. Certainly not around any Fort Wayne liquor stores. And, anyway, I don't drive a "large, white" vehicle.
The sad thing is, these Morons have already reproduced.
Why is it when I read this story I immediately thought of Mitt Romney's dog?
....so it's wrong to do it?
He was arrested for driving under the influence. Apparently nothing wrong with strapping the kids to the car.
If you pass a law specifically that they CAN'T ride in a pickup bed, wouldn't you also have to pass a law specifying all the other places they can't ride, or specifying the only places they can? I mean, that's the logical conclusion in a nanny-state, isn't it? If Nanny hasn't said you can't do it it must be OK. Either that or Nanny has to decree that you can ONLY do those things Nanny has OKed, which is a place we haven't reached. Yet.
@ SGB,
Yes. It is wrong, very wrong. Indiana police are very jealous about who gets to drive under the influence.
@ Bram,
Since the original article, he and the woman with him were charged,
Stefanski, 29, was charged with three felony counts of neglect of a dependent, felony operating a vehicle while intoxicated and four misdemeanor counts of criminal recklessness. -- According to a Fort Wayne Journal Gazette article. Three of the kids were his, the mother of the fourth was with him, and she was also charged with felony neglect of a dependent.
And I bet they confiscated his tow strap.
Riding on the hood of a car was a fun childhood activity when I was a kid. -- Lyle
Well, if you carry a tow strap then don't be surprised if when you have to use it you'll never see it again.
That's why I don't carry my grandpappy's tow strap he brought back from The Big One Part Deux. If a situation ever came up where I had to use it I might just pause that one extra second because I was afraid to lose it.
We used to teach soldiers to put a prisoner on the hood of their Jeep, so you could watch them as you drove them back to be processed as a prisoner of war.
Of course when George S. Patton Jr. returned from a trip in Mexico, he had a deceased Villista general tied to the hood of his touring car.
Could they be human shields?
I was pleasantly surprised to learn yesterday that it's apparently still legal for adults to ride in the back of a pickup in Oregon. Which surprised me because Oregon has always been anal about seatbelt laws, at least compared to my homestate of Nevada, which only made it a primary offense in 2005 or so (before then, they couldn't pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt; they could only give you a ticket for it if you were pulled over for something else).
i have a large, blue vehicle. is that so wrong?
i have an inexpensive tow strap, bought at a pawn shop years ago. it's kept concealed in the tool box. i call it my "Thursday Morning Special".
Well, at least he hadn't field dressed the youngn's afore he laid 'em all out on the hood like so much venison?
I've always wondered what that was all about. I mean, is 20 miles rare, 40 miles medium rare and 60 miles well done?
Never did figure out the recipie for hooded deer.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Back in about '66 or '67 my insane Uncle and I were deer hunting about 300 miles from home and realizing that we had that long drive home on Sunday with no deer to show for it, pooled our remaining money, found a ranch and bought a small whiteface heifer. Took her out to the edge of the pasture, shot and field dressed her and rassled the carcass into the box of the pickup and propped the carcass open with a chunk of 2x4 so the meat would cool. We must have gotten pulled over fifteen or twenty times between Ellensburg and Seattle that afternoon. We kept asking State Troopers, Sherrif's Deputies and City Cops if they knew the difference between a deer and a cow, and when did it become illegal to transport a dead cow you had a bill of sale for , but no deer tag. We got the beef to a butcher who agreed to process it for half the meat. It was a hoot and still cheap, some of the best beef I ever ate.
Gerry N., one of the best road practical jokes I ever heard of.
" And no one has mentioned whether the dude drove worse or better when sober; he may not have any practice at all, driving sober."
Reminds me of one of the nukes on the submarine I sailed on being overheard saying "Sir, I don't know what I'm doing...I've never done this sober" on a reactor startup...
Of course, the CO and Engineer left immediately, pretending they hadn't heard a thing.
Gerry: I grew up on a farm in deer-hunting country. Most hunters are careful and responsible, but a few get so drunk they can't tell the difference between a deer and a cow. Of course they've hardly any chance of hitting a deer, but occasionally a stray shot will happen to hit something that matters, and a cow might be dumb enough to just stand there until the drunken bastard either gets in a lucky shot or runs out of ammo.
So if I was a cop and saw that going by, I definitely would have wanted to find out (1) whether you had hung a deer tag on that heifer's ear, and (2) whether you were driving drunk. OTOH, once I knew the answers were no and no, I hope I would have the courtesy to get on the radio and tell the rest of the cops to leave you alone.
Because the kiddy park rides just don't do it anymore...
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