Mother defends breastfeeding baby while driving (followup on idiot)

WKYC-TV/DT Cleveland ^ | 6.17.03 | Vic Gideon

[mhking]

Mother defends breastfeeding baby while driving

Reported by Vic Gideon
POSTED: Monday, June 16, 2003 5:06:15 PM
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 12:20:52 PM

PORTAGE COUNTY -- A mother traveling from Detroit to Pittsburgh got into trouble in Portage County while trying to drive and breastfeed her baby at the same time.

Twenty-nine-year-old Catherine Donkers had fed the baby before she left Detroit but said her seven-month-old daughter was hungry again.

"I knew I was doing nothing wrong when I was breastfeeding her," Donkers said.

Donkers doesn't consider her actions excessively dangerous.

"I think there are lots of things we do when we put ourselves at risk, just by the very fact that I'm in a car and there's lots of car accidents every single day," she said. "I think it would be reasonable to say even that's a danger."

A truck driver apparently saw it as a danger and called the highway patrol. But Donkers wouldn't pull over for police until she got to a tollbooth.

"I've directed her to, that when she doesn't feel safe, she goes to a public place," said her husband, Brad Barnhill.

At the tollbooth, Donkers didn't give the trooper a driver's license. She instead pulled out an affidavit as identification and got cited for not having a license.

The couple also claims she did nothing wrong, saying Michigan law has an exemption to its child restraint law for nursing mothers.

They claim that since the turnpike is an interstate, drivers can follow the laws of their home state. But the highway patrol says that as long as the stop occurred in Ohio, they have to abide by Ohio laws.

The couple has done extensive research on the law and believes in a strict adherence to them. Donkers is facing child endangering and child seat violations among other charges. Her and her husband say they plan to fight all charges and will file a counter suit.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

While not completely analogous, the fact that the woman's husband is, apparently, posting here reminds me of two cases from here in upstate New York.

The first is a recent case in Auburn where a man charged with burglarly, after pleading guilty to a reduced charge, wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper, claiming he was innocent of all charges and, in essence, railroaded. The Judge called him and his attorneys into court and wanted to know if he would like to withdraw his plea bargain and go to trial on the felony charges.

The second was a case out of Geneva a few years in which a local woman and her underage boyfriend went on Jerry Springer and admitted their (illegal) affair on national television. The cops got the tape, interviewed the kid, and arrrested the woman for statutory rape.

The moral of the story is, I guess, be careful what you write or say in a public forum. You never know who is reading/listening.

[mhking]

The plot sickens.

Yeah, but it's not "ZOT" material...at least not yet...

[mhking]

Damn! I don't have my ping lists here!

[Carolinamom]

...no one can punish her but me.

I wonder how that will sit w/the judge.

[cjshapi]

Yeah, but it's been such fun. It's a slow day here at work and I haven't read anything this ridiculous in a long time. We should thank Mr. Bonkers, er Donkers for the amusement he's provided.

[justshe]

If you don't mind answering, what religious faith do you and your wife practice? The tenets sound familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

[Howlin]

From the first story:

A trooper tried to pull her over, but she ignored him and then exited the turnpike. "The stop didn't occur until she exited at the 187th and then became caught up in the toll booth and that's where the officer was able to approach the car and talk to the driver," said Ohio Highway Patrol Officer, Lt. Chris Butts.

[justshe]

I HOPE this thread is not zotted. This is too interesting...and well....downright jaw-dropping for all of us to read!

The foibles and eccentricities of the human race never cease to amaze!

[Catspaw]

You will have lots of fun trying to prove that a husband "rendered legal services" to his wife by giving her legal advice, bad though it may be.

Not that part--but holding himself out as a lawyer to law enforcement would be very close to that definition. Representing her in court would get him a UPL charge, at least in Wisconsin.

[Howlin]

A little more:

She was arrested for not having a driver's license, a first-degree misdemeanor; failing to use a child restraint device, a minor misdemeanor; and obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor, according to the patrol. She was later charged with child endangerment.

[justshe]

It has been.....ahem....an eye-opener! LOL!

[Catspaw]

Damn! I don't have my ping lists here!

LOL! You must keep them on a floppy, ready for pinging, at all times. I hope you can ping later--this is a keeper, I tell ya.

[PhiKapMom]

Bottom line is that this woman is a moron; and a danger to ME as a driver on the highways. I don't want to be any damn where near her when she is idiotically being distracted by latching her child onto her breast while trying to drive. If that is the extent of her decision-making skills (or lack of the above, as the case may be), then I would submit that her judgement in taking appropriate care not to hit MY vehicle is piss poor at best.

Very well stated! That is wreckless driving IMHO and she should be charged accordingly. Anyone who puts their baby and the rest of the drivers in danger like this should be charged.

[RMDupree]

I guess this "genius" never thought to:
A)pump her breast milk into a bottle and let the baby feed herself in the car seat, or
B)hire a babysitter for the day, or
C)Get her noble hubby who is so willing to defend her on a thread to maybe..I dunno...take care of the infant whilst she attended this most important symposium.

I have 2 kids, one who will be 1 year old next Friday and this story sickens me to no end. Just to think if there had been an accident...*SHUDDER*

[Carolinamom]

So she didn't actually stop for the officer but instead was "caught up in the toll booth". Have they "researched this one too, I wonder.

[Poohbah]

Liberty is not a privilege, it is a right. Travel is intimate to liberty.

And one may travel by any number of means that do not involve the operation of a multi-ton motor vehicle on public highways.

[cjshapi]

I can only hope we get to hear how this thing turns out. It's too funny to just go away to that great abyss of unfinished business.

[PhiKapMom]

How do you get a baby out of a child car seat when driving down the road? I can remember having trouble sometimes when the car was parked!

[mhking]

I can remember having trouble sometimes when the car was parked!

With those "child-proof" latches that are more "adult-proof" [g]!