If you've ever been in a car with kids - especially when you're rushing to get to school/work in the morning, it can be a major challenge. The mom was just backing out of her driveway when the accident happened. Perhaps she was running late - "Okay kids, get those belts on now" - as she's rolling down her driveway. Maybe the kids were just getting settled in and started buckling up. Perhaps they weren't wearing seat belts at all. Regardless, this Mom carries a heartbreak with her forever - and a little sister has lost her big brother.

Do we judge too quickly? Remember the mom who ran downstairs and left her toddler in the tub; the mom who had the infant on her lap in the backseat of a car rammed by a drunk ex-cop; the mom with the baby who tumbled from an apartment window; the mom who didn't buckle up her school-age kids - all recent JC accidents - all but one leading to tragic death. Why did these moms make these choices? In hindsight, don't these terrible accidents all sound preventable? But if you ask any normal mother who has a child over the age of two to share a "near tragedy" raising-a-baby story with you, chances are they'll tell you more than one.

I don't have an easy answer. This accident has struck such a chord in me, though. I look at that little boy and see my own son. I cannot even imagine being able to live without him.

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In theory, too, maybe the guy had right of way. But, if he was going 50 plus mph in a residential zone, maybe there was no practical way for the mom to know whether she could safely back up.

When I cross the streets downtown without help from a traffic light, I'm so paranoid I try to wait till I see no cars at all, but sometimes a car still roars up from out of nowhere before I can even get across the street.

Anyhow, I wish I had a lie detector and could find out if all of the people who are seriously slamming the mom on NJ.com (where the tone is much harsher and more judgmental than here) obey the speed limit and stop for pedestrians in crosswalks.

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Definitely. It's the reaction of the test pilots in Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" who always try to attribute crashes to something the pilot did wrong.

On the one hand, it's an understandable reaction. On the other hand, I think this is the wrong time to post this sort of thing about a mom who's lost a child and is in the hospital herself.

We should try to be more careful in our own lives but let the courts and God handle the judging in a case like this.

no question that the ass-wipe is at fault, but I too believe the penalty for not having children buckled up in a seat-belt or baby seat should be increased. Child endangement sounds about right in my books, because we are all aware of the risks of driving a car.

If this guy had been obeying the speed limit he would have stayed in the right place at the right time. 50 plus mph on our residential streets is ridiculous. It is time for the Police to assign a Task Force to end the cycle of speeding, hit and run and DWI related deaths that seem to occur every other day in JC. Spot checks on vehicles and drivers uncovers alot of other violations and outstanding warrants. The cops in NYC took alot of scum-bags off the streets just by enforcing the "quality of life" laws. It may seem minor or trivial to some to go after these people but that is why they should not be "policing" our streets. Timothy McVeigh and David Berkowitz were both captured for violating "minor" laws that were just the tip of the iceberg.

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It's tragic that the boy died, but his initial crime was just speeding... Being in the wrong place at the wrong time and the lack of seatbelt turned it into manslaughter. I think the maximum for vehicular manslaughter is only about 14-15 years... and for that he probably would have needed to be drunk or high. Since he appears to be a scumbag anyway, maybe they'll tack on enough years for the car theft, speeding, reckless driving, leaving the scene etc. to keep him locked up for a while.

Mark.

So this guy will be out of jail, potentially, to celebrate his 30th birthday? "Death by Auto" vs. another means is still death - what would the comparable sentence be for manslaughter? The reckless and tragic death of this young boy should carry a more severe penalty, IMHO.

CAN'T MAKE BAIL
Driver in fatal crash a confessed burglar

Tuesday, October 16, 2007
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The man charged with killing a 7-year-old Jersey City boy in a car crash Friday made his first appearance in court yesterday on the charge of death by auto and his bail was set at $200,000.

Wearing green jail garb, Alan Serles, 20, appeared in Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny, staring at the floor while a judge read the charges against him.

Because he is awaiting sentencing in a burglary case, Serles did not have his bail set at his initial appearance yesterday morning but in the afternoon, state Superior Court Judge Peter Vazquez set it and he did not post it, leaving him in jail last night.

Serles was arrested after the collision, at 8:15 a.m. Friday at Fulton and West Side avenues, but the charges were upgraded when Moeez Saquib died at 12:15 a.m. Saturday at University Hospital in Newark.

Saquib's 5-year-old sister, Meheab Javed, remains in critical condition, authorities said. Both children were thrown some 40 feet from the back seat of the Kia Sportage driven by their mother, Faiza Tanveer, after it was rammed by the Cadillac Escalade driven by Serles, officials said.

Tanveer, who was driving her children to School 38, was not seriously injured. Police later cited her for failing to restrain the children in the vehicle. Children under 8 years old or less than 80 pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the rear seat of the vehicle.

Serles, who is currently homeless, pleaded guilty to a car burglary committed in Jersey City in October 2005, officials said. He was allowed to go into pretrial intervention rather than be prosecuted and the matter would have resulted in no criminal record, but - for a reason that could not be determined yesterday - he was terminated from the PTI program and scheduled for sentencing, Gregory said.

Death by auto carries a possible sentence of up to 10 years in prison, officials said. Authorities said Serles, who was staying with a friend the day of the crash, took the Escalade without permission. Serles is also charged with lesser offenses.

The Cadillac slammed into the rear passenger side of the Sportage as it backed out of the family's driveway, and the massive SUV then veered left into a parked car, pushing it 30 feet down the block, reports said.

The Escalade continued down the sidewalk and crashed into a concrete block wall. Serles got out of the SUV and walked away but surrendered to police a couple of hours later.

It appears Serles was driving at least twice the posted 25-mph speed limit, but police think it could have been even faster. Family members at the Fulton Avenue home yesterday said they had no comment on the crash and its aftermath, but they did say they believe the Escalade was going a lot faster.

I think that there is no doubt as to the recklessness and fault of the driver, however, when a tragedy like this happens people automatically think, "what if this had happened to me?"

Finding fault with the mother, which is definitely there, helps people to think that this would not have happened to them, because they would have buckled their children in. It gives them comfort to feel they do have control in a world that takes life in an instant.

It's funny the horrified looks i get for swinging my baby upside down or throwing him up in the air, but I would never go a block down the street without buckling my children in. Be that as it may, there is no need to judge the mother, she's already paying a price that no one should have to pay.

I guess you can think to yourself, what is within my control, how could this have been prevented? What if the man who had crashed into the family was speeding because he had just had a heart attack and lost control of the vehicle?

It's all what ifs and we are floundering to believe that somehow we would have been ok in this situation, we would have buckled our children in.

This is a horrible, horrible tragedy and my heart goes out to the mother and the rest of the family. I pray to never experience this kind of loss.

What bugs me about reading the NJ.com comments on this story is that, in general, the commenters are a million times harder on the mom, who apparently was just going to be driving a block to drop her children off at school, than they are on the guy who was driving 50 miles an hour on a residential street and then left two injured children dying on the road.

We don't have a car, so I don't have to worry about this issue very often. But my immediate reaction is that the people trashing the mom must be the drivers who go around almost running me over in the crosswalk in their SUVs.

They don't want to take emotional responsibility for all of the times they've nearly crashed into moms in crosswalks or people who were backing up from their driveways, so they come down hard on the mom and all but completely exonerate the reckless driver.

Can someone let me know if the kids are back for another season of fundraising? I've posted about this before on another thread - it was interesting to read the original postings. The kids at Erie are so small - and it pisses me off to see their parents/supervisors lounging on the median while the little tikes dodge SUVs. I haven't seen them for a while - but if they're there again, I'd like to look into it a bit more. Thanks!

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I would call the police. If nothing else, what was happening was probably some kind of child neglect.

I once called the police about a guy having little kids sell candy in the PATH station, and I think the police eventually took care of that.

If it looked as if the "supervisors" (pimps) were really raising money for the good of the children, that would be one thing, but the guys farming out those kids never look as if they're all that great to the kids, so I doubt it.

Totally agree, Linky. My boyfriend and I actually witnessed a young girl hit by a van over the summer (at that same intersection, while they were fundraising). I thought certainly they'd stop doing that, or at least put tighter restrictions - like not being in the middle of the road and approaching from the sidewalk. Here's the post related to that thread if you're interested.

http://jclist.com/modules/newbb/viewt ... id=114972#forumpost114972

Needless to say, seeing that happen has made me overly cautious when it comes to walking, running, biking etc. - I wind up looking every direction (even the sky!) for traffic. It's amazing how quickly something can go wrong that the stuff that's in one's control, should be. Hopefully the incident with the two children has some lessons learned - from both the driver and the mother.

And speaking of panhandling in traffic. What's up with the little kids collecting money for their sports teams in the middle of traffic stopped where Erie Street meets the traffic going into the Holland Tunnel. Does this disturb anyone else as much as me?

Last time I saw kids there ( and not high-schoolers, some of them were about five or six.) they were walking in and out of the cars while the "supervisor" sat fifteen feet away on a chair looking the other way.

I refuse to give money to them because I don't want to encourage them. Rather, I told them that it was unsafe for them to be there and that they should collect outside of a grocery store or something. I told them to tell the "mom" what I said.

I swear, next time I'm calling the cops, even though it probably isn't illegal.

Sorry to get off topic, but can't people see how a bad thing might happen? Same thing with the unrestrained kids.

We've all driven around town and stopped behind cars with a bunch of kids crawling around loose in the back. It's like that homeless wheelchair guy in Harlem that was just killed after years of panhandling from the middle of traffic, you wonder why it took so long.

Thanks for the replies. I read a very interesting article today about the subject. According to the 2004 piece, "motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death and acquired disability for children between the ages of 4 and 8 years old."

Children should stay in a booster seat until the adult belt fits - usually when they are approximately 4'9" in height and 8 to 12 years of age.

Here's the link to the article (and tips on how to use a booster properly):
http://www.chop.edu/traumalink/download/2004/pcps_cpsreport.pdf

And here's a peak at NJ booster/safety seat laws for kids:

Children up to age 8 or 80 pounds must ride in a safety or booster seat in the rear seat of the vehicle. If there is no rear seat, the child must sit in the front seat secured by a safety or booster seat.

Children under age 8 who weigh more than 80 pounds must wear a seat belt anywhere in the vehicle.

Passengers age 8 to 18 (regardless of weight ) must wear a seat belt anywhere inside a vehicle.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children between ages 4 to 14.

More than 1,700 children under age 15 died in motor vehicle crashes in 2000, with the majority not in a safety seat or seat belt.

Great post, jerseymom, and i fear you will be unjustly accused of "blaming the victim" because you have the guts to say the right thing.

That accident was horrible - it was reported that one of the kids was thrown 30 FEET OUT THE BACK WINDOW. So tragic, especially because the death might have been avoided.

If you love your kids, please take jerseymom's advice.

Don't forget the driver of the Cadillac SUV that slammed into the car at a estimated 40-50 mph and then fled the scene.

Hope this guy gets manslaughter 1.

My heart breaks as I read ANOTHER child in Jersey City has died from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. The 7-year-old boy in yesterday's Fulton Avenue accident passed away this morning - his 5-year-old sister has serious injuries. They were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

PLEASE WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT and make sure that your children/passengers in the back seat of your car are wearing their belts, too. Children too old for a traditional car seat should be in a properly fitted booster seat.

Many people are under the impression that children in the back seat are safe - by virtue of being in the back seat of a car. I had a nanny from overseas who was well educated, but unaware that wearing a seatbelt in the back seat was the safest way to travel. It is a common practice in the country where she is from to not wear seat belts at all - a child seat is rare, too.

And remember, if a child is on your lap, they become your airbag in the event of a crash.

Not for a second - even if your kids are fussy - keep them in their car seats and seat belts.

Link to JJ story: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007 ... y_boy_dies_from_inju.html