The argument against rear facing seats does give me pause. No bumper . No other material of any kind between the rear facing riders and an approaching vehicle. I own a rear facing 4 seater and am becomming increasingly more worried about the safety of the passengers.

They could live down the street...they could be neighbors, but friends? NO.....not if I knew about it.

Apparently not so in FL. Scroll down the "Road" column - "Passenger Age Restriction - None":

State-by-state motorcycle laws

Bill :)

Think you get it. The state of Florida will let a child ride on the back of a 70 mph motorcycle with no helmet,and yes no seatbelts and people here do not see the problem.They see a silly golf cart going 15 mph and those kids in the back,who can probably run faster than the cart is going.let them be kids, and let them be grandparents.

Unreal response
 

Here you have two children standing in the rear of a golf cart and no protection at all to speak of. Silly golf cart speed probably around 15 MPH, cars and trucks approaching from behind at probable speeds of 30 to 35 or greater. Auto or truck driver becomes distracted and slams into the back of the golf cart. so what do you have, at least four broken legs, internal injuries and likely killed outright. Grandparents totally destroyed forever. But what the heck, they were only letting them be kids.

You really were a teacher?

I'm confused about the gist of your post. Are you for letting kids ride unbelted the back of golf carts or not?

I think I must have misunderstood your comment. You're not saying that this is acceptable because kids will be kids...are you? I misunderstood right?

Maybe so, but your parents weren't behind you egging you on to have such dangerous fun. You were risking your own neck, not with the encouragement of your parents or grandparents. There's a time when you grow up and stop thinking you are immortal. We all took chances as kids. We get past that an- don't condone or produce that chance taking on our kids or grandkids. Geeze.

That doesn't say much for the state of Florida.

Yeah. Right. And let a car/truck driver live with it on his conscience for the rest of his life the sight of a child maimed and killed by his driving and doing nothing risky.

And let the driver be sued for every penny he ever worked and saved for, and have it taken from him, because some dopey parents or grandparents want to be "pals" instead of being disciplined guardians of their kids.

Should kids be allowed to ride around in an open car trunk with their legs/feet dangling out and down over the bumper??? I don't think so.

You actually think a kid is going to run 15 mph? Do you have any idea the damage that will occur when a head collides with the pavement at that speed? Those kids don't stand a chance and you see no problem. That's bizarre.

Grandparents
 

This post explains very clearly why the rest of us actually see grandparents allowing their grandchildren to do stupid things. kids will do enough dumb thing on their own as they grow up, they don't need grandparents help.

Well said.

I agree with your post absolutely.

I completely understand the concept of not overprotecting. And many of us did survive a lot of dangerous things in our youth. (NOT me. I am a sissy) However...there are a lot of ways we can allow our children and grandchildren to learn to be independent and self reliant and they do not include allowing them to be unprotected in an area where we KNOW people do NOT show good driving habits.

New cart drivers who are seasoned drivers and adults find the cart paths challenging here and it takes quite a while to become familiar with how we get around this area and make the abrupt turns.

I am NOT an helicoptor parent or grandparent...and have been referred to as "the warden". Tough is how I would describe my role as mother as I was the one always present while their father was flying around the country making a living...., someone had to outwit the little devils and keep them alive so that when we got old they could support us.;).

But I'd be danged if I was gonna let them kill themselves on my watch.

I absolutely think that if we are gonna give them an opportunity to be successful adults we have to protect them from their young and often stupid behavior.

They have all thanked me and appear to still love me.

Believe me...I was a B.

Parenting takes GUTS.

Yes,I was a teacher,and a very fine one also. I did not sugar-coat things as others will do. That is why I was so sucessful at my job.Did you mention you did some teaching,I believe you said something about sunday school.

New rule children,no running on the trails or on the streets.You will get run over by cars and trucks.Make sure you were your helmet,elbow pads, knee pads.gloves. did I forget anything. Grandparents raising a generation of wimps.

...

This is getting ugly and personal - let's play nice.

There's a reason I have some people on my ignore list. I do occasionally read the posts of these people knowing they'll say something really, really, hmmm, what's a good word, let's try unique. I have yet to be disappointed.

This thread certainly has opened up a lot of conversation. On another note...just found out this morning that the streets that circle the squares are considered "something" else in the way of roadways. "IF" a 14 year old, for example, has an accident down there there will be heck to pay on his future. Points off future license, big bucks of a fine and much much more. Was told this by someone whose friend's grandson had this experience!! It's not something we, as grandparents want to subject our grandkids to.

On another hand don't we want to be "good" examples to our children (yes even though they're grown) AND to our grandchildren?? I want to leave a legacy to mine that would be revered!!

I think that is a good rule that children don't run on the streets. Glad you mentioned it.

I don't think grandparents who look out for the safety and welfare of their offspring could be categorized as wimps for doing so.

There is another post running regarding unhappy posters and trolling. I think this applies to a few on this thread. I truly do not believe what some folks state about their past and some of their beliefs.....NO ONE wants our children...grandchildren to get hurt....shock value??? Intimidation?? Bored life?? C'mon folks....there's a lot of garbage on television to get you all rilled up, don't attempt to get nice posters here all upset because of your sorry life.

and furthermore...I fell right into your trolling. Stupid me. I truly wish for the unhappy posters to find peace and happiness.

I saw the idiot you were talking about. He was on Triggerfish

i like my chrildren ---- well done ---!

Our older son, who was a challenge to raise but turned out wonderful, said to me when he reached 25 and thought about it some, "I don't know why you and Dad didn't smother me in my bed."

All the posts here about kids not dying on your watch, setting a good example, and generally just trying to keep them safe till grown really hit home with me.

I have even more contempt for grandparents who would let their grandkids ride in the passenger seat of their golf carts without a seatbelt installed.

When I first moved here I really thought those bag holder things were for parking children. Don't have grandchildren nor do I play golf, so, it's all good.

I think we all did stupid things as children, but we didn't do it with our grandparents, we came up with our own stupidilty and knew enough to lie about what we were doing.

:How stupid.. umm think you just answered your own question with this post. I watched to golf carts turn into colony from 466a the other day.
:22yikes:

...and not get caught. (except for my brother, whose ability to cover his tracks needed work.)

Where are all the cops when all this is happening....

Don't believe it has been established at this point this is illegal.

Cops can't arrest for stupidity. Think how busy the courts would be if they could.

I agree. Riding on & being around big, heavy farm equipment, some with PTOs running at 1000s of RPMs was a whole lot more dangerous than riding anywhere on a little golf cart. Unless you were born & raised there I guess most folks just don't have any idea what farm kids are routinely exposed to on a daily basis.

Come on people lets be real about this....we all did things like ride bikes without helmets and many of us were in cars that had no seatbelts or the back of Pickup trucks. These vehicles went as fast as 10-100 mph. We had accidents, fell off of our bikes and dented our cars and we are here today talking about it. So there are risks about everything we do. Hell, u could trip on your own feet and kill yourself. Should we all be walking around with helmets and large rubber suits to protect us. This world has gotten to the point of let's criticize everyone if we don't like it. Let everyone make their own choice!:ho:

On a farm the parents taking such risks are not involving other responsible drivers who can run over the kids if they slip out/off the cart, or rear-end the cart in a sudden stop, mangling or killing the kids. It's one thing to take risks upon yourself and kids, but quite another to subject other drivers to those risks and consequences they'll have to live with all their lives, too.

All of these posts have been thought provoking. There is truth in what everyone has said.

We can't help the levels of certain hormones we have floating around that makes us risk takers or wimps. Or attitudes, Or taught values. Or lifelong ways of dealing with things.

The bottom line is...the kids are here these few weeks during their spring break. Let's ALL be VERY careful for them and for us.

We DON'T want any horrible life changing event to happen because we weren't thinking or watching.

We want to continue arguing over whose grandchildren are the prettiest and best and most intelligent.

Oh. by the way. Mine are.

Sorry Gracie...you've never seen my grandkids!! :kiss:

True that the police can't arrest for stupidity, however, I would be in a heck of a lot of trouble if one of those kids fells off a cart and I crunched them with my tires!