My friend needs a ride to church

[Doug]

But she doesn't fit in my car. She is an extremely large woman, real nice but the times I have driven her she hasn't been able to put her seat belt on. She has a daughter and a sister, who is also overweight, pregnant with twins. I don't think it is a safe situation. I don't know of a nice way to tell her she is too large to fit in my car, and that I can't transport her without a properly fitting seat belt. SHe is a former homeless lady the church helped out, now she has 2 pt jobs. They were trying to get her a car but the person who was fixing it recently was divorced from his wife and is no longer on the project.

They need prayers so that she can get her own car.

I have to keep on making excuses on why I can't take her.

[phkrause]

Why do you need an excuse? If she can't buckle up than she shouldn't be riding in a car!! In Massachusetts its illegal to not have seatbelts, not sure about California.

[Lauralea]

From the State of California web site: "Your chances of surviving a collision are five times better if, upon impact, you are not thrown from the vehicle. A seat belt can keep you from being thrown into the path of another vehicle."

http://apps.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/seatbelts.htm

It also says all must wear seat belts or you can be cited. You could say since the seat belts in your car do not fit, maybe another car would be better for her to ride in. There are also seat belt extenders I believe which are available for purchase. A very delicate point of discussion- it is good you want to tell her tactfully, although I am also concerned this may impact her health.