http://www.20min.ch/news/zuerich/sto...ahren-30340098

This story has been on my mind all weekend. A toddler fell out of a moving car when the back door opened suddenly and was run over by another car.

It's tragic, horrific for those involved, granted, and I don't know what actually happened. What this story highlights in my opinion is that child safety in cars is just not much of a topic in this country. I've heard crazy stories like you're not allowed to use a rearfacing car seat for a child over 1 - and I'm talking about one that is suitable for height and weight limits. How often do you see toddlers sitting in the back seat without seatbelts? A baby on a parent's lap in the backseat?

I know many of us don't own cars, but that doesn't mean that we should stop buying car seats after baby has outgrown the oh so cool and omnipresent Maxi Cosi!

And it's quite frightening to consider how difficult it is to find harnessed car seats for children above 18kgs.

Apologies for the rant, but this really has been bothering me all weekend

Google Translated version into English is here.

Thanks for sharing the news, this was terrible!

the actual question (even if it's just horrible) is why the door's car opened ?

I've got a *lock-the-door* on my car so a child inside can't open it from the inside, and it's a cheap car.

And I agree about the seats.

It is actually the law in Switzerland that children aged 7 and under should be in an appropriate and approved seating restraint. Thereafter it is only the TCS which recommends further appropriate seating for children up to 12.

I posted this on earlier threads about child seats in Switzerland with relevant links.

There are always going to be idiot parents who think "It'll be all right just this once..." and they aren't just in Switzerland.

agreed. we never found one and ended up importing them from the States.

I agree with you, Sandgrounder. It just bothers me that in a country like Switzerland - where the number of educated parents is quite high - car seat safety just isn't a topic.
And going by the low number of car seats approved by the TCS, the authorities don't really seem to think this is much of a topic (I've actually been told they find it too tedious to check out new options!)

But it does seem pretty prevalent here. I'm used to California where the norm is to be overly cautious but it still surprises me to see it so often here. I can sort of understand it in Africa/Spain, etc.,... but here???

Education level and common sense do not necessarily go hand in hand.

I know this is somewhat straying from the topic but I think some people consider their dog like a child.

Anyways the first week I got to Switzerland I saw one of the craziest things. I was walking up the street and this woman in a car made a sharp right hand turn onto the street I was on and to my disbelief her dog flew out the window onto the road into oncoming traffic. Thankfully there were no cars coming. She stopped the car and the look on her face was complete horror! The dog (it was a Jack Russel Terrier) just shook that **** off like a champion. She put him/her back in the car and drove off! I couldn't believe it.

Obviously nothing compared to the child story but I thought it was in the same ballpark

When our little fella reaches 18 kg (probably after his next bag of sweets) we'll have to look into a new seat but there's a big range just up in Germany which are all approved.

EDIT: For those looking for seats in Switzerland here's a link to a great selection for kids up to 12 years old.

I agree there's a fair selection of higher weight allowance seats available both here and in Germany - but there mostly booster seats (even if they have backs).
Just because a child is 18kgs doesn't mean he or she is ready for one!

Haven't found anything with a 5-point harness though like the Britax Marathon:

What can you understand of Africa/Spain..?

I could buy a lot of duct tape instead of that, I bet.

No offense if you're Spanish (my wife is also and she agrees with me) but there are many similarities to Africa and Spain in the way some things are done. One of them is the ridiculous bureaucracy and another is the use of carseats. Of course there are many people in Africa and Spain who use carseats but it is not uncommon to see kids cruising around the car without seatbelts.

The people not using car seats in Spain are the same people not using them in Switzerland - the idiots and/or the ignorant.

Really, your view of Spain does strike me as somewhat outdated to put it mildly :-)

As for bureaucracy, well I have to say that what I have learned about the US and its tax-laws these last days on the forum puts it right in there with the Africans and the Spaniards ;-)

I'm not Spanish, and Spain is not one of my favourite countries, but to compare Spain to Africa is a bit harsh - for Africa :-)-

Now seriously, any comment like that kills your credibility...

Honestly, I threw out the Spain/Africa thing looking for some grief.

I think that I remember reading that you spend quite a bit of time Spain and I'm sure that your experiences aren't the same as mine. We spend quite a bit of time in Spain as well and from my experience, I don't think my view is outdated at all. It has certainly improved but there are still many things that are just comical.

Regarding the tax codes in the US; of course it is way more ridiculous than Africa or Spain. If you think that I'm a flag-waving patriot, you are incorrect.

Ohhh. I see that you're from Argentina....oh nevermind.

Sucks about Milito, eh?