DARWIN, Australia (AP) – An Australian driver who secured a carton of beer in his car with a seat belt but left a 5-year-old child unrestrained was fined 750 Australian dollars ($710; €460), police said Tuesday.
Constable Wayne Burnett said he was “shocked and appalled” when he pulled over the unregistered car on Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs.
The 30-can carton was strapped in between the two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, on the vehicle’s floor.
“The child was sitting in the lump in the center, unrestrained,” Burnett told reporters Tuesday.
“I haven’t ever seen something like this before,” he said. “This is the first time that the beer has taken priority over a child.”
The driver was fined for driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle, and for failing to ensure a child was wearing a seat belt.
Alice Springs Police Superintendent Sean Parnell expressed shock at the incident in a statement released Tuesday.
“This serves as a timely reminder to all drivers to ensure they wear seat belts and ensure as is their responsibility that all passengers in their vehicle are secured in the appropriate manner,” he said.
HA-HA, those Australians, i could see my step father doing this when i was younger.
:beer2:
