Baby falls out of mom’s car into busy intersection
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SACRAMENTO, California (KOVR) — A baby boy fell out of the backseat of a fast-moving car in the middle of a busy South Sacramento intersection – and those tense moments caught on surveillance video.
The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is now warning parents to make sure seat belts are being used when they should be and doors are properly secured.
“Not only is it state law, but that’s the most precious cargo you can have in the backseat of your vehicle,” said Officer Jim Young with South Sacramento CHP.
The boy, 2, survived with minor scrapes and bruises after falling out of the back of his mom’s car over the weekend. Video shows a black Hyundai Tuscan quickly making a left turn in the area. The child quickly fell out of the back door and to the ground in the middle of the intersection.
Within seconds, the video shows the flashing lights of a CHP officer who pulled up on a motorcycle to stop traffic. Then, a good Samaritan swooped in and picked up the child, taking him to safety on the sidewalk.
The boy’s mother later told the CHP her child, who was not in a car seat, somehow managed to unbuckle his seatbelt, and open the back door. Cars behind her honked their horns alerting her to what had happened.
“The people that were behind her were paying attention and saw the child fall out right in front of their eyes,” said Officer Young.
But now this mom could be in trouble. Per California law, all children have to be in a booster seat until they’re eight years old or 4’9 in height. And kids under the age of two are required to be in rear-facing seats.
The mother told the CHP her child’s father had the car with the car seat in it, and she had to go somewhere.
But now, the CHP wants the mom charged with child endangerment, a misdemeanor, but that’s up to the District Attorney.
“I think that having a 2-year-old in the back of the car not properly restrained, I’m sorry that’s just not the best you can do,” said Officer Young.
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