INFANT CAR SEAT ON THE SIDE OF ROAD...STOP!!!

I've received this same 'warning' - but it supposedly happened in Canton, MI, Oakland, CA, and probably a dozen other location.  People SAY they saw it, but I'll bet they didn't.  Certainly not all of those locations.  This has all the earmarks of a good urban legend.

 

As a mother of 5, believe me I am the first to be cautious and alert but this type of unnecessary reporting is what creates panic and frenzy in our unbalanced world we live in today.  All the research I have done has pointed to this being a %100 urban legend and nothing more.  My poor Grandmother and both Aunts have been worked up over this story. There is enough to be fearful or afraid of without adding fabricated sick stories to the mix. God Bless.

 I received this exact message from a friend in CA and in CO and in neither case was the warning, in fact, posted at the purported law enforcement websites.  I then did a bit of research and this is a well established and thoroughly debunked urban myth.  This sort of fear-mongering is pervasive in social and political circles to the detriment of the social fabric.  Our responsibility is to ascertain the facts and truth whenever possible.

I agree that the email being sent around is the result of a very bored person with nothing else to do but stir things up.  Eventually the email will probably make its way to some psycho who thinks "Hey, what a great idea!!"  However, I have passed it on, just in case . . .

Are you people serious??? Do you really not think that this is a possiblity?  Cut Fred some slack and apologize for being rude.  Shame on all of you for attacking Fred.  Unfortunately, the segment of population who thinks it is just fine to be vicious and rude is growing right along with the crimimal segment!!!!! I'm really not sure which is worse sometimes. 

Thank you for caring, Fred.  And Susie...... probably.... the psychos have already thought of this tactic and WORSE.  No, it may not be true, (I for one ALWAYS check with Snopes), BUT what is the harm in reminding us to take our safety seriously?????  NOTHING.  Again, thank you for caring, Fred.  And NO I have no idea who Fred is or where he is from.  I ran across this thread while checking the validity of this story that my sis-in-law sent to me. 

Hi there, comment from the UK.

This viral mail has made it across the pond, they simply change the 9-1-1 for a 999 (UK emergency services) and replace the Canton (or other) PD to be a UK based police station. It's basically a rather unpleasant joke designed to see how far it can spread and how much fear it can induce.

What is sad though is the idea that people would now not stop to help someone else in need, even a child. Sure, be cautious in life but let's remember that for the most part, the world is not so bad and full of rapists, murderes and violent evil.

Help others always, but make suere you stay aware and stay safe would be my suggestion.

Caring is always good, though I believe part of caring is also doing research before perpetuating untruths.

 

Kindly, everyone - go to snopes.com, breakthechain.org and urbanlegendsonline.com before posting or sending anything of this nature.

 

Bad things happen in myriad ways, but let's not participate in frightening people.

 

 

Ok, sorry but I can not believe that supposed lucid adults, wouldn't want to tell anybody and everybody about this, urban ledgend or not.  What the hell difference does it make Mellissa Stentz if this supposed rumor goes around. The fact that it is going around, has now alerted those that would prey upon innocent people that "yeah, these fools will stop for a baby seat, carriage, or even a real looking doll" on the side of the road.  We've now educated them as to what we would be attracted too.  So what does it matter that it goes around???

I for one thank the person who started it.  I've told my children, this could really happen and if I saw it, and had never heard this, would probably be the person to stop...Girlscout leader and Child counselor that I am.

And if you want a real eye witness experience, I have one for you, similar in nature. I was in Cabo, Mexico 11 years ago on a vacation with family and friends. We were traveling at night, on the hwy back to our resort, quite a distance out of town.  We came round a corner and in the middle of the road was laying a person covered with blood and obviously mangled by being hit.  He looked dead.  Well, "nay-sayers," my male companion said, "Don't stop, keep going!"  We had seen a van just before this and a car after about a blocks distance.  It was gruesome and my first instinct was to stop and help this obviously injured person.

We didn't and were all totally creeped out. We asked the desk at the hotel to send help..well, their exact word were, "you are lucky Senora, you would have been robbed, and possibly killed, they are bandits and this is how they get the Americans to stop." Lesson learned!

Doesn't sound much different to me than stopping for a random baby carrier with a blanket over it....

Gail in Seattle

As a survivor of a violent rape I welcome warnings whether they are true or not. If you are not sure, send it my way because I would rather be safe than sorry. Most adults will think 'hm, I don't know if this is true but if it is it's nice to know' and will simply move on and then recall the information if they see a situation to which it applies, in which case: what harm is done? I agree that staying in your car with the engine on and doors locked until the police get there is always a good idea. I resent the thought that this makes me less caring for looking out for myself as well. I give money to beggars, hand out food and clothing, let people use my phone, and do what ever favors I can without risking my well being. That's not being selfish it is being realistic. I am a very caring person and it's terrible that people make you feel like you are selfish for recognizing the bad in society as well as the good. You should focus on the good but that doesn't mean you should pretend there are no threats ou there. We encourage programs like stranger danger for our children but act as if it no longer applies as an adult. Fear invokes caution and is necarry for survival. Those who flip out over this are probably already highstrung...don't blame the emails. I still think there are more kind people in the world than not, but I am not niave enough to think 'that couldn't happen to me' people who think this are probably those most vulnerable to it happening. Fear, to some degree is a good thing. If I'd had some before I may not have become a victim.

All I had to read of Amy's post was, "I welcome warnings whether they are true or not."  Seriously?  Here's one:  if you step out of your house, you could get hit by a semi-truck dropped from a cargo plane flying at 50,000 feet above your home.  I got it in an e-mail -- it must be true!

I, too, came across this thread while researching the validity of the many-times-forwarded email I received.  I am always suspicious of these things and this one in particular screamed "bogus!" because I am old enough to remember the hullabaloo over the gangs supposedly driving without lights and shooting anyone who flashed their own headlights at them.

Like several posters, these hoaxes really drive me nuts.  Gang initiations, songs banned from the radio, prayer requests for non-existent children, fake Amber Alerts - the list goes on and on. 

I have FB friends who repost scams that are only slightly changed from the same scam they unknowingly posted weeks before - and they don't catch it!  Drives me nuts (in particular, fake Amber Alerts giving a different state but always the same car & tag number - how can they not notice this on the 3rd or 4th time??).

Do I have stupid friends?  For the most part, no.  Inattentive friends?  Perhaps.  But, more accurately, I have caring and good-hearted friends whose purpose is to help, not harm.  So they don't check things out the way I do...compulsive researcher that I am - it doesn't change the fact that they are trying to do a good thing and it really harms nobody (my aggravation and chagrin don't count as harm) to repost things that make us think about safety of ourselves, our loved ones, unknown children and God and the power of prayer.

I too received this email from a family member, and while it felt like another urban legend, it does have a reing of common sense.  But let me tell you that it is not just gangs that may be watching who stops at roadsides.  A friend of mine and I were heading home one afternoon from a local animal shelter where we had been working with the animal control officer on some rescues. We saw what apeared to be a pet carrier at a corner of an undeveloped lot. It was lying awkwardly against the fence as if it had rolled off of a turning truck. We felt complled to stop. It was a clear afternoon, and relatively remote, on an access road to a major highway.  We got out and soon realized that it was not a pet carrier but rather was a moulded plastic case similar to what one would expect to find electronic equipment in it.  We discussed what we should do, as it looked like it might be expensive.  So, we decided we would take it back to the city hall where we had just left and leave it with the police.  As we both stood there, looking down at this box, several cars came careening onto the intersection and as I watched, stunned, out came 4 very large men pulling 4 very large guns and POINTING THEM AT US!  We were both unworldly enough to NOT react in a defensive manner. We were just stunned, and both began to just blather. These men could see we were just a couple of middle-aged blunderers, and directed us to "just get outta here", where upon we got into our car and just drove. The car followed us and after about a mile, motioned us to pull over. The man who graciously came to my window showed his badge... he was FBI ...  Not local sheriff or state police or even ATF.  He would not tell us what we had inadvertently interrupted, but from the circling helicopters and cars we could see on the horizons, we had cost some agency a great deal of money. I shutter to think that had we been inclined to be defensive or shown any hostility, we would have been at the very least arrested, and quite possibly shot.  (I should add that this was at a time when we had been hearing about some terrorist/racist problems in the area, specifically with pipebombs and explosives.  Truth is, we wee VERY lucky all the way around.

It has made me think long and hard about stopping to check out anything that appears suspicious. And with the ready availability of cell phones now, caution should always be at the forefront. Yes, a baby car seat is compelling, but when you think about the likelihood of there actually being a baby in it, it should send alarms off. Call 911, and if you must stop, DO SO WITH GREAT CARE.

 

Has anybody checked out Snopes? I did, just Google it.

You know this baby in a car seat is a total hoax, don't you? This should be removed from your site. It is neither true nor professional. I would not enter into a real estate transaction with someone who posted such spurious information. I must assume that you have the same ability to Google something good like this to learn if it is true before plastering it on your site.

This isnt a hoax. This just happened to my brother last week. Lucky for him he walked down the other side of his car and cought them by surprise. The ended up hittimg him with a bat but he was lucky enough to get away. Im not sayimg irlts a gamg that did it because where i live is rural north idaho. I dont know their reasoning behind it but i do know it happened.