EVERETT — A Mountlake Terrace woman was handed a traffic ticket Wednesday evening after allegedly breast-feeding her infant son while driving on I-5.
Around 7 p.m., a 911 caller reported seeing a baby in the driver’s lap as she headed northbound on the freeway in Everett.
The trooper pulled the Honda station wagon over at the 41st Street exit and initially approached the driver to check on her welfare.
“He didn’t realize that the lady was breast-feeding until he walked up,” Washington State Patrol trooper Mark Francis said.
The woman allegedly admitted that it wasn’t the first time she had driven while feeding. She said her child was crying uncontrollably, Francis said.
Regardless of her reason, she was driving her 4,000-pound car at 60 mph with a baby in her lap, Francis said.
“It’s an egregious safety issue,” Francis said. “The potential for disaster is there. The baby is not going to survive” a crash.
The case is being forwarded to the state Department of Social and Health Services, Francis said.
The woman, 43, was given a citation for failing to have her 1-year-old son in a child passenger restraint. It carries a $136 fine.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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