Safety Tips for Driving with Children
Ask any emergency room worker and you’ll hear that the saddest things they see are children brought in terribly or fatally injured due to not being secured in a car accident. In fact, car accidents are a leading cause of death in children. Children not in car seats or seat belts become projectiles in accidents and often wind up being smashed through the windshield or ejected from the car. And, while not all accidents are preventable, there’s a lot you can do to make sure your children are safe in your car.
1. Use the proper restraints. When you install the car seat for that first trip home from the hospital, make sure it meets federal standards and that it is properly installed in the back seat. Make sure your infant is always in it while traveling. While it’s tempting to take a crying baby out of the car seat to feed or comfort, pull off the road first.
As the young child grows, so should his/her car seat. Even after a child reaches 50 pounds, a booster seat should still be used to ensure proper placement of the seat belt. Children, even older ones, should ride n the back seat until they reach 100 pounds. If you read the safety instructions on the front seat air bags, you’ll see a caution even for adults who weigh less than that.
There can be no exception to wearing a seat belt or restraint system. Older kids should learn to buckle up before the car starts and you should supervise to make sure they’re doing it properly.
2. Keep kids happy. Fighting or crying children distract the driver and can cause accidents. If there are two adults in the car, have one of them sit in the back with an infant to provide entertainment, comfort, and a bottle. Note that a breast feeding mother should never remove her infant to feed while the car is in motion. Either pump milk before hand to put in a bottle, or pull off the road. However, even with a bottle, it’s wiser not to use it in motion as the child may choke. If this happens, pull to the side of the road so that you can pat him/her on the back until he/she is okay.
Older children should be given games to play or small entertainment consoles such as DVD players to watch. Even with today’s modern choices, there’s still nothing like an old-fashioned game of Car Bingo, When My Ship Comes In, or singing songs together.
Take breaks. Even if your car can go 400 miles without refueling, it’s unrealistic to expect your children to do the same. Take potty breaks frequently at rest stops and allow them to run around. Carry water and food in the car – eating is always good entertainment.
3. Be prepared for emergencies. Every child old enough to use a cell phone should either have his own or have access to one carried in the car. He or she should know how to call 911. Program other emergency numbers of relatives into the phone and show the child which buttons to push to reach them. Your child should also have identification on him – especially if there are any medical conditions or allergies that would need to be known in an emergency if you weren’t able to tell the care workers.
Carry basic first aid supplies and bad weather supplies which should include blankets and extra food and water. If you’re driving in winter, carry chains, a shovel, and kitty litter.
4. Use commonsense. If the roads are treacherous, don’t go. No trip to Grandma’s for a holiday is worth the possibility of becoming stranded or injured. While many people are tempted to drive at night while the children sleep, it’s also more dangerous to drive at night and you’ll be exhausted in the morning when your kids are just waking up. Don’t take isolated roads or short cuts in the hopes of saving time. Safety is your best savings.
We’re fortunate to be living in an age where car travel can take us to see loved ones and allow us to go on fun vacations. Driving is a necessary part of our lives and our kids depend upon us to drive them to school, soccer practice, and a million other places. But, with our driving comes a certain risk, and we must always be vigilant to minimize that risk by heeding every safety precaution we can to protect our children and ourselves as well.
