Note to Hannah Montana: Seat belts are necessary not an accessory

Many parents would agree that 15-year-old superstar Hannah Montana, a.k.a. Miley Cyrus, is a good role model for kids.  But a gaffe in her Disney blockbuster 3-D movie, "Hannah Montana/ Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour" might challenge that opinion. 

Why?  One scene in the movie shows Miley and her dad, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus, riding in the back seat of a Range Rover on the way to rehearsal for the concert tour.  Neither was wearing a seat belt.

Why should we care?  Because, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in about 55 percent of passenger vehicle fatalities in 2006 (the latest data available), the occupants were not wearing seat belts.  Even worse, in the 13- to 15-year-old age group, that percentage climbs to 65 percent.  Unfortunately, we’re not surprised by these grim statistics because a 2002 survey by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that when parents were dropping teens off at school in the morning, nearly half the teens weren’t using seat belts.

It seems to us that Miley, her father, and Disney had a perfect opportunity to help influence teens and counteract—rather than encourage—this trend.  Then again, as Hannah herself sings, "Everybody makes mistakes."  Maybe Hannah, Billy and Disney, will take a tip from the rest of Hannah’s song and get it right next time around: "Nobody's Perfect! I gotta work it! Again and again 'til I get it right. Nobody's Perfect!"

Update
Miley's dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, says "we made a mistake" and agrees that seat belt use is "important." Read the full story.

Comments

[josephine]

Please get real. A note to Hannah expressing your concern for her safety would be enough. Children watching the movie are not looking for seatbelts. Even my 9 year old knows that she is in front of a camara shooting a movie not actually traveling across the country. She realizes that this is not real. I am glad you were able to find something so wrong with her. I would put her up there with Paris, Lindsy and Britney and her sister.

[steve]

When movies and videos are shot, the people in the vehicles are not really driving the car. They are either on back of a flatbed trailer and in tow with an escort of other vehicles, or they superimpose the windows with video like they are moving. They are in little danger if any for not wearing them. It's an oversite by the production staff. I doubt if kids are watching and saying "if she doesn't wear her seatbelt i'm not." This is a job for the parents to enforce.

[charles]

Is this the worst thing you could find out about this kid? Why did someone spend that much time scouring this video to find that small of a detail? Don't you have better things to do with your time?
Having raised 5 kids and still dealing with 2 teenagers, the last thing any of them would notice is "was she wearing a seat belt". Good Lord, complain about something else

[~*Lisa*~]

Talk about putting the blame where it isn't deserved. Seatbelt safety starts at home, and instead of the media constantly talking about how stars impact our lifes as role models, adults and parents should step up and be the ones to truly impact the seat belt issue. I'm sure this isn't the first movie to *gasp* show someone not buckled up, nor will it be the last. I doubt it was intentional or part of her evil plan to not be a role model. Lately I just think its trashy how the media seems to keep attacking her, please go after those who want the limelight and do trashy things, all the criticism is how a lot of really good young stars become people we don't recognize. Btw, note to Consumer reporters: Find reporters reporting about something that actually makes a difference, Shame on you for using Hannah to trash talk, get the hits to your blog, and act like you are doing it because of a "Safety" issue. Can You say Tacky?

[belinda]

With the war and all the dying there, this is the best you could come up with? Are we really relying on a 15 yr. old movie star to teach our children right from wrong? Someone here has definatley done something wrong and it's NOT Miley Cyrus.

[sue]

Good grief, the movie was filmed on a stage soundset. They most likely don't have seatbelts on those props in the first place. Do you know how many times I've seen kids older than required to be placed in a car seat or booster seat in the back seat of a car jumping around. I'm 40 years old and when I'm in the back seat of a car, I don't wear a seat belt. Adult are just as vonurable as kids are when it comes to getting into accidents. In most states, it's not even required to wear a seat belt if you're in the back seat. Just because she is an up and rising star and has hit fame, it's really sad that she has to be watched and picked over by the media. Leave the poor girl alone. It really bothers me that when one of the up and coming stars starts to make if famous, they are critized by every little move they make and for every little thing they do.

[Becca E.]

I would just like to point out one thing... when Hannah got the car in the perfum episode, both she and Lilly buckled up as soon as they got in the car. That being said, what about all the movies/t.v. shows that don't have the POLICE officers buckling up? You know, the 'real' role models?

[Jennifer]

So what. Everyone makes a mistake. Maybe it was poor editing who knows. What a prefect time to say to a child who does notice this yes she isn't wearing and seatbelt but she should be wearing one. Use this as a teaching tool. If people rely on a movie to teach them right and wrong there are bigger problems here then someone in a movie not wearing a seat belt.

[Ms. Stephens]

Are you serious?!!!!!  So are you telling me that someone actually took the time to break down this movie, frame-by-frame, and wasted energy writing about what-a unbuckled Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus? Yes, they should have their seatbelts on; that's a given, but was she participating in underage drinking or doing drugs or having a baby while riding unbuckled? Can we give some of these young stars that are being a positive influence on our young children any positive feedback for what they do? And this is coming from Consumer Reports of all places! Let the entertainment mags and shows stick to what they do best-it's not a good look on you, Consumer Reports!

[vilte]

hey hannah i no u made a mistake but i love u

[Dean Morrow]

Can we please GET REAL??? Who cares!!!!

[Tween Mom]

Okay, now you have pointed it out - but did you have to take such a tone to do so? A mag of this stature with such a fine reputation for providing accurate, useful information could have suggested a PSA opportunity with Miley, her Dad and the entire Disney entertainment group, one where they admit an oversight or even an error in judgement and the reinforcement of a lifesaving strategy that indeed should apply as common sense to anyone beyond the age of needing a booster car seat and someone else to buckle them in.
Good catch - bad tactic - reduces you to the level of tattletale paparazzi. Shame on you for not considering your own reputation in the handling of this information.

[John S. Kisch]

Hannah should add the following line to her song, "Nobody's Perfect except for Consumer Reports" That you actually pay people to come up with this stuff is amazing! You folks must be suffering from hypoxia, trying to exist in the rarefied air of the moral hight ground. Please answer me a question Oh Mighty Know-It-All, How many seat belts on a school bus?

[Russ Craber]

I believe the government should regulate not only whether or not we wear seat belts, but also what our cholesterol levels should be, what our body fat can and cannot be, what we eat (please protect me from Krispy Kreme), and what we wear.

It is, after all, for the good of society that we all remain healthy.

Thanks for the 3rd grade tattle, CR!

[robert murphy]

Its a sad commentary on todays supposed news when the most smut you find on a star is "no seat belt" !! Get a life ,folks
Safety in the back seat of a car is the parents job,not a 15 year old kid in a movie!!
Great reporting,will watch your news again...NOT

[TU]

Is this the point where the media starts tearing apart another young star? These so-called journalists make rather flippant comments about people in the spotlight when they have no clue about what might really be going on. I'm sure if her father was there and he's ok with it, then who the h__ are you to question it? Are you her parent? Go pick on Britney, she's got issues, but let's not tear someone down who has just started her career.

[alycia]

i agree that hannah montana SHOULD have been wearing a seatbelt because it shows kids that "hey hannah doesnt wear one, so why should i?"

but also, there ARE worse things going on in the world right now, but to a role model to a lot of kids -- put on a seatbelt, its not that hard.

[pw]

THis is completely insane. if this is the best new you have, refer me to a new blog. half the people who watch that movie are like 6 years old and i dont think theyll be watching if she has her seatbelt on! Theyll be glued to miley's face!

[arb]

Dear Consumer Reports. Get a life.

[Christine and Avery]

My daughter and I saw the movie along with her friends, not one single person noticed that seatbelt "issue". I am soley responsible for my childrens actions, I like others have chosen to be the parent and not a 15year old dictate what my children do. I grew up watching famous people smoke did I? NO my mother set the rules in our house so I did not smoke. I wish that the small minded media people would leave Miley alone and let children enjoy some happy people in their lives.

[Christine]

Why don't we just take MORE time and criticize every move celebrities make!!! I'm sure it took someone LOOKING for a critical mistake who actually caught this "no seat belt wearing" scene. For one thing, she's a freakin' Disney Character playing a role!! It wasn't REAL!! Why don't I criticize Mickey Mouse for only having 4 fingers or not talking back to me at Disney World??!!!?? He's not real!! This is completely REDICULOUS!! I'm sure Miley Cyrus is the reason for all the YOUTHS in the world not wearing seatbelts...they all have parents you know?? I think they deserve the responsibility for their own Children--NOT some Disney Character!! This is sooooo sad that this is newsworthy....what a sad world we live in!!

[Rachelle]

Ok - how about blasting the parents that don't make thier kids buckle up. Not some kid in a movie. I mean seriously, we have got to stop blaming other people for our problems and put the blame where it belongs. It is common sense to buckle up in the back seat. It isn't a law, but people should know better. I wish the media would stop blaming celebrities and movies and tv and video games for kids bad actions. Parents should be teaching their kids, not these other things.

On top of that I am sure the kid didn't write the scene. So, put the blame where it belongs.

[Curt]

What's next? "OPRAH SPOTTED EATING JUNKFOOD"? The nannies at CR really need to get a life.

[JC]

Basketball great Charles Barkley once said, "I am not a role model." If we as parents have come to the point where we allow celebrities of any sort to decide whether our children wear a seatbelt, say no to drugs or brush their teeth then we are truly in a sad state. I have a responsibility to educate my children, not Miley Cyrus, Disney or anybody else. To place the blame on someone else would be a disservice to them and my parental role. This is what Sir Charles meant and you know what, he's right.

[HOward MAndel]

This article is a textbook example of what is going wrong with US journalism. Leave the kid alone. Parents are responsible for their own children not an entertainment product created (brilliantly I might add) by Disney. I hope that the Cyrus girl can separate herself from the self-indulgent authors of articles like the above and not let them make her crazy. I mean here is a 15 year old girl who has someone actually writing a nationally viewed article about whether she is wearing a seatbelt. YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING. I pity the girl having to put up with stuff like this and hope she can live through her stardom. Hopefully she has people shielding her from exposure to this foolishness.