A Cincinnati driver is facing a stack of charges after police say she took off from a downtown crash on May 30, leaving four young children between 2 and 6 years old unrestrained in her vehicle. Officers allege 23-year-old Bonita Soloman stayed in a left-turn-only lane on Second Street, then went straight instead, slamming into a car that was turning left onto Vine Street before driving away. When police later tracked down her vehicle, they reported finding all four children without car seats or booster seats. The crash report indicates no one involved was taken to the hospital.
What police say
According to Local 12, Soloman is charged with child endangering, violating child restraint laws, leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license. Police say she left the scene after the collision but was later found by officers, who noted in the crash record that the four children, ages 2 to 6, were not secured in car or booster seats. The station reported that an image from the scene was credited to law enforcement.
Charges and the law
Ohio’s endangering-children statute makes it a crime to create a “substantial risk” to a child’s health or safety and can be charged as a misdemeanor or, depending on the circumstances, elevated to a felony, according to the Ohio Revised Code. The state’s child-restraint law requires children under 4 years old or under 40 pounds to ride in a child safety seat, and generally requires booster seats for children under 8 who are shorter than 4 feet 9 inches; those requirements are set out in Ohio Revised Code Section 4511.81.
Why restraint rules matter and where to get help
Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that using child restraints correctly cuts the risk of death significantly, by about 71% for infants and about 54% for toddlers, and that booster seats lower injury risk for children ages 4 to 8. Families who need car seats or installation checks can find local distribution and inspection sites through the Ohio Department of Health Ohio Buckles Buckeyes program; county health departments and many hospitals also host seat-check events.
