Even a seatbelt

couldn't keep 2-year-old Karissa McFadden from falling off the family

golf cart and taking a solid bump on the head.

While on a

family joy ride with brother Collin and father Stephen Monday afternoon,

Karissa somehow slipped out of the seatbelt and fell onto the pavement

on Loring Lane. She bled a lot, Stephen remembered, but she never lost

consciousness.

Karissa stayed

at the hospital overnight after getting three stitches on her head and

eight on her ear. The doctors determined she suffered a concussion also.

morning, she was almost back to normal at home, begging Daddy to color

with her at the kitchen table. The accident, however, was an ordeal her

parents especially her mother will never forget.

"I think

they will be wearing helmets on the golf cart from now on," said

Tammy McFadden.

The incident

came several days after a local resident asked the city council to require

seatbelts on all golf carts and all children riding carts to wear helmets.

Bill Aleshire

said carts currently manufactured don't have connections to hook up child

safety seats. Many parents will drive with their young children in their

lap, leaving the possibility that the child's head could strike the steering

wheel in an accident, he said.

Council postponed

a decision so Fire Chief Stony Lohr could research how often serious accidents

are reported on golf carts in Peachtree City. Wednesday morning, Lohr

said none of the 10 golf cart accidents reported all of last year were

serious in nature.

Lohr recalled

several other serious accidents on golf carts that have been reported

over the years, however (see related story) .

City Attorney

Rick Lindsey told council that if the city enacts a seatbelt requirement

in the carts, the city could be held liable if someone is injured in an

accident where the injury could have been prevented by jumping from the

cart, such as a rollover.

Aleshire suggested

the city contact golf cart manufacturers to determine what safety restraints

can be installed in carts. Councilwoman Annie McMenamin suggested that

help could also be obtained by the SAFE KIDS coalition in Fayette County.

The McFaddens

had paid extra when they bought the cart to have the seatbelts installed,

she explained, but they now know even seatbelts aren't an iron-clad guarantee

to protect children from falling off a cart and getting hurt.

Stephen McFadden

remembered praying with Collin before the ambulance came. The paramedics

were great, and so was the staff at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hospital,

he said.

But the McFaddens

don't want a similar situation to happen to anyone else. Tammy was at

home when her husband notified her about the accident, and she rushed

to the scene, worried about her little girl.

"That's

a phone call you don't want to get," she said.

"It's

God's grace that she came out of it okay," Stephen said as he watched

his little girl work magic with the crayons. "It could have been

a lot worse than it was."