Dad saves boy before car plunges down cliff -- and gets pair of Traffic tickets

Foxnews ^ | 5/21/12 | Greg Wilson

[KansasGirl]

A New Jersey dad got the scare of his life when his 5-year-old son almost ran off a steep embankment, and though the man saved the boy from falling, he couldn't stop his Jeep from going over the precipice and into a river below.

Frank Roder, a construction worker from the town of Winfield Park, had taken his son, Aidan, down to the Rahway River to feed ducks Thursday. But when he stopped briefly before settling on a parking space, the impatient boy jumped out and took off -- straight toward a ledge 35 feet above the river, Roder recalled.

"He hopped out, and I thought that was OK, I was just going to park," Roder, 38, said, but "he just took off, made a beeline for the edge."

The panic-stricken father jumped out of the cab of his 2006 Jeep Commander and raced after the errant boy, catching him just feet from the edge.

That's when Aidan, eyes as big as saucers, looked behind Roder and said, "Um, Daddy ..."

Roder turned in time to see the Jeep nosedive down the embankment and land in the muddy water.

Snip

He was counting his blessings when a young cop approached him and handed him two tickets. One was for failure to produce the insurance card, which was somewhere in the waterlogged cab. The other was for failing to use his emergency brake.

"I couldn't believe it," Roder said. "He said, 'If you would have taken the five seconds to apply the brake, this never would have happened!'

"I say, 'Really? And if I did and my boy stepped over the edge and fell instead of the Jeep, then were would I be?' He says, 'Jail, for child endangerment.'"

[GeronL]

I’d say the two events were events were unrelated. lol

[OrangeHoof]

Your tax dollars at work...

[chuck_the_tv_out]

so many power freak cops

[Doogle]

5 yr old is mum...(pssst kid,if your dad mentions getting in a balloon, call the cops)

[discostu]

It takes him 5 seconds to apply the brake? Must be some crank or something.

[OrangeHoof]

So he and his boy are planning to feed the ducks from a 35-foot embankment. Do most people feed ducks from over the side of a cliff? Wouldn’t you need a pretty sturdy arm to throw bread crumbs or something like that to reach the ducks?

I’m probably missing something in the news account but it seems to me like they picked an odd place to interact with waterfowl.

[Hildy]

Are you saying the father set this up? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

[Hildy]

Are you saying the father set this up? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

[OrangeHoof]

Shoulda just stayed in the jeep. It would have been much easier to feed the ducks that way.

[Born to Conserve]

I can’t get out of my truck without applying the parking break. It just happens. It’s involuntary.

[napscoordinator]

He was pretty stupid. Well deserved ticket. Probably should have been arrested. How much fuel and other stuff will go into the stream?

[dfwgator]

“You killed the car.”

[Hildy]

Have you ever been driving and saw your kid running off a cliff? If the answer is no, then you have no idea how you would react.

[Doogle]

why wasn’t the 5 yr old kid in a car seat?

[Jeff Chandler]

"He hopped out, and I thought that was OK, I was just going to park,"

My children and now grandchildren are trained from infancy to remain seated and belted in until instructed otherwise.

I guess some folks are too lazy to teach basic safety to their children. Which is sometimes dealt with through natural selection, come to think of it.

[Hildy]

Great, now you want him to get three tickets!

[Doogle]

he could’ve.

[Shannon]

why wasn’t the 5 yr old kid in a car seat?

That was my exact thought. The child couldn't possibly have been properly restrained.

Did the father report it to the press hoping to get sympathy or make the police look bad? He deserved those tickets.

[Politicalmom]

A five year old is perfectly capable of unfastening a seat belt on a booster seat.

[Jeff Chandler]

A five year old is perfectly capable of unfastening a seat belt on a booster seat.

A properly trained five year old does not unbuckle and jump out of the car without permission.

[Doogle]

if the motors running when the dad lets him

[newheart]

So who’s the U-boat commander?

[Diggity]

I agree totally.

[Politicalmom]

Must be nice to have perfect kids. All the five year olds I have known could be quite unpredictable when they got excited.

[Politicalmom]

And that has nothing to do with my point, which was that he could easily have been in the proper car seat and have gotten out.

[stormer]

None of this smells right. A kid who should have been strapped in gets out above a 35 foot cliff where they were going to feed the ducks? Frankly, if a car can roll down the hill into the water and still start, it’s not exactly a steep, life threatening drop - more like the kind of thing I’d have jumped off at that age just for fun. I’ll bet a dollar the guy either forgot to put it in park or set the brake and he cooked up this story to save face. “Just don’t tell mommy...”

[BwanaNdege]

Less damage than if the cop’s co-workers spend three days dragging the river for the kid’s body.

(I’m hoping that you forgot to take the 5 sec. to set your “/sarcasm” tag)

[VRWC For Truth]

99.9% of the police are a-holes. Sanctioned looting of the taxpayers.

[TheOldLady]

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[ExCTCitizen]

"I say, 'Really? And if I did and my boy stepped over the edge and fell instead of the Jeep, then were would I be?' He says, 'Jail, for child endangerment.'"

I'd take the tickets but the cops are nuts in this case!!

[Iscool]

I didn’t see a sign that says, ‘no trespassing’ or ‘no parking’...Why the ticket???

[RightOnTheBorder]

Failure to use parking brake = you just caused a lot of people a pain in the arse getting you ride out of that river

Failure to produce insurance = Cop is an a**hole revenue generator and a good little jack boot for the state.

[Raycpa]

Any chance the story about having to save child was made up?

[Jeff Chandler]

Must be nice to have perfect kids.

Not perfect. We just take the time to train them in basic safety and to respect certain hard fast rules because otherwise their naturally unpredictable behavior could lead to tragedy. It's not rocket surgery. But I know that many parents feel differently about such things and as I said, natural selection sometimes comes into play as a consequence of laissez faire parenting.

By the way, I don't blame the kid. The father is obviously a fool. At least his idiocy resulted in comedy rather than tragedy.

[Jeff Chandler]

the cops are nuts in this case!!

The guy let his car crash into the river. They should have ticketed him for Driving While Stupid.

[Jeff Chandler]

Are you a cop?

[Jeff Chandler]

Failure to produce insurance = No fine, just show the court your insurance papers.

Failure to Control Vehicle = Could have been a big fine.

[Jeff Chandler]

I didn’t see a sign that says, ‘no trespassing’ or ‘no parking’...Why the ticket???

No boating permit. No life vests.

[CommerceComet]

We hear only this guy's side of the story and we're supposed to believe it. I witnessed a "situation" when I was in high school. It was reported the next day in the paper with the guy sounding as innocent than Jesus Christ in front of Pontius Pilate. The reporter only interviewed the perpetrator and all everyone heard was his whine story. If the reporter would have asked any of us spectators, it would have been discovered that the guy was lucky the cop didn't shoot his belligerent butt. The tickets the guy got that day were well-deserved.

[CommerceComet]

“as innocent as” instead of “as innocent than”. Sorry.

[Tennessean4Bush]

You are channeling the church lady. You know that don’t you?

[Tennessean4Bush]

You are channeling the church lady. You know that don’t you?

[Clintonfatigued]

Police carping strikes again.

[PistolPaknMama]

A properly trained five year old does not unbuckle and jump out of the car without permission

I've had kids and grandkids and you're the first person I've known of that everything goes according to plan when they're 5. Parents can "properly train" all day long, and the kid will surprise you nonetheless. A properly trained parent knows that, expects it, and prepares for it.

[Jeff Chandler]

You are channeling the church lady. You know that don’t you?

Because I think a guy who can't control a five year old is a pathetic fool?

I really don't care if you let your kids jump out of your car before it's parked. Forgive me when I laugh at your water-logged car.

[Jeff Chandler]

you're the first person I've known of that everything goes according to plan when they're 5.

I'm reviewing the thread to see where I claimed that. Hmmm. Nope. Can't find it.

The man is obviously an idiot who does not have control of his kid.. I deduced that from viewing the photo of his car in a freaking river.

[PistolPaknMama]

I deduced that from viewing the photo of his car in a freaking river.

When I was first married, we came outside to discover that my new husband's car was half submerged in a pond. I was obviously an idiot that didn't have control over my new husband. That made me a bad wife? Sometimes stuff just happens. If the kid had been floating in the river instead of the car, our dialogue would be a whole lot different.

[Jeff Chandler]

When I was first married, we came outside to discover that my new husband's car was half submerged in a pond. I was obviously an idiot that didn't have control over my new husband. That made me a bad wife?

That's what you get for marrying a five year old.

[Tennessean4Bush]

Is your middle name Richard?