Hilary Duff slammed for driving with 3yo unsecured in the back seat
“You have no context. You don’t know where I am.”
The star of How I Met Your Father and mum-of-three, Hilary Duff has come under fire on social media after her a video of her three-year-old daughter riding in a car without a proper child seat emerged on Instagram.
Duff’s Younger costar, Molly Kate Bernard shared a video of the actress’s daughter, Banks – her goddaughter – on her Instagram feed and the comments went off, although have since been hidden.
Actress Molly Kate Bernard shared a video of her goddaughter Banks sitting, unsecured, in the back of a car as it drove along.
Three-year-old Banks is shown riding in the back of a moving car with her godmother, without an age-appropriate car seat and she has clearly slipped in front of the adult seatbelt.
In California, the law requires a child to be secured in a carseat or booster seat up to the age of eight.
Due to the backlash, commenting has been turned off Bernard’s Instagram since she posted the video in January, but Duff was happy to talk about the incident in her recent Romper interview, although she started by pointing out that her publicist would not be happy!
Even when Hilary Duff shared a video of Banks singing in the car, while secured in her car seat, commenters took issue with the straps.
The 34-year-old actress, who has more than 20 million followers on Instagram, told Romper, “My entire life’s mission is to be a good parent.” The fact that she defended her child’s carseat-free ride may make other parents raise their brows.
“There was this huge story that came out because my friend Molly was in the backseat of our car with Banks without her carseat,” she said. “It’s not like I’m driving on the 405 with my kids in the backseat without a car seat.”
Hilary Duff stars in How I Met Your Father, sister show to How I Met Your Mother.
Duff – who has three children, son Luca with her first husband Mike Comrie, then Banks and 11-month-old Mae with husband Matthew Koma – clapped back at the haters, saying “You have no context. You don’t know where I am.”
“Do you know how many times I let my kids sit on my front seat once we get [close to our driveway] to pretend like they’re driving home? You’re telling me you’ve never put your kid in the backseat to drive a block before with an adult back there?”
Even when Duff shared a gorgeous video of Banks siting her age-appropriate car seat singing ‘Jolene’ on a drive, the child’s safety was called into question by fans.
“Please move up her headrest. When forward facing her shoulder straps need to come above the shoulders or at them. Not below. Her chest clip also needs to be at armpit level. You can place her in 5pt harness in this car but in the other one she barley looks like she’s in one?! Please brush up on car seat safety to keep her as safe as possible! God forbid something happens to her and it could have been prevented.”
“Please fix her straps, shes so sweet and nobody wants to see her potentially injured”
