Originally Posted by
SEAFFLYER
Although I agree with you about the airlines allowing this, I've always wondered why does it have to take government regulation to wake these parents up? It amazes me that these parents have effectively put a price on the life of their child. Yes, air travel is the safest mode of travel, yada, yada, yada, but "stuff happens", and what a parent is in effect saying is that their child is only worth $300-$400-$500 or whatever the price if the ticket is.
If there isn't a second seat available and/or you can't afford a second seat, DON'T GO!
I see assertions about the safety of lap-infants on FT all the time, and from time to time (as now) I challenge for data - and never get an answer. What is the probability of serious injury to a lap child vs a child in a car seat in their own seat ? Surely, if you are so certain of the risks of lap-kids you have data ? No ?
We make judgements that effectively put a $ value on the safety of ourselves and our kids every day of the week.
If there were data showing a substantially greater chance of injury for a lap child, your assertion that this values the childs safety at $300 is completely bogus. To take an wholly hypothetical example, if the chance of serious injury for a child in their own seat were 1/100,000, and for a lap child 1/10,000 then if the fare were $300 then the value of the childs sfety would be $3M.
It amazes me that people are willing to make pronouncements on something as serious as safety on the basis of "it's obvious" without any data whatsoever - and frankly to do so is reckless and irresponsible. Lots of things that seem to be "obvious" prove to be false when you study the data carefully.