Wasn't This Child Abuse?

There was a Saturday afternoon crash here in Toronto that raises an interesting question. Should parents who drive without securing their children in proper seats be charged with child abuse?
During this crash, which occurred at 3:34 p.m. at Yonge St. and Lake Shore Blvd., two children sustained serious injuries. Neither of them were restrained in child seats. The three-month-old, who was sitting in his mother's arms in the rear seat of the van, was thrown from her arms and into a side window of the family van. He also broke his leg. His three-year-old sister suffered head injuries when she was thrown from her car seat. Two other children in the van were in proper seats and suffered only minor injuries. That's almost like the parents playing favourites and deciding with whom they would take the chance of serious injury being sustained. Shouldn't that alone warrant a charge of abuse?
Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows said there were only two child seats in the van, although there were four children in the van at the time of the collision. "It's unacceptable.", said Burrows."If you've got four children there has to be four seats that are available." Burrows also said investigators are holding off on laying charges until they see what happens to the two severely injured children and complete a reconstruction of the accident.
According to the police, the van carrying the children went through a red light at the intersection, and was then broadsided. Unless the driver was in the middle of cardiac arrest at the time, it is to be hoped that the book will be thrown at him or her for that alone. The fact that they police are awaiting news on the children's conditions would seem to suggest that direct fault for their injuries will be laid at the feet of the parents, and that is exactly where it should be. How unbelievably stupid does one have to be to actually carry an infant in your arms in a moving vehicle? To do so risks the child's death or life-altering injuries. Why would any parent do that? Is it to save some money on the purchase of proper car seats? You would think they might feel saving lives to be more important. If they literally can not afford the proper seats, then the answer to the problem would seem to be simple. They are not driving anywhere as a family. Period. That easy. Well, it should be that easy but it seems we are talking about parents who do not really care about their kids. Don't tell me about tear-streaked faces as the parents wait for news, either. Unless we are talking such severe mental impairment that the parents really should not be given the care of those kids anyway, they knew the risks they were taking with their children's lives, and they took them regardless.
Is that not child abuse?