Car Safety for Your Children

Car safety is a topic on which everybody could use a refresher course from time to time. Simple things like moving house could mean that you have relocated to an area with different laws (including the laws around drink driving – get in touch with a Plano DWI lawyer if you have been affected by an accident). Today, we’re going to look at some simple car safety tips for your children, so that your car journeys are made safer for the whole family.

Buckle up Without Blankets and or Coats

Blankets and coats add an extra layer of thickness between the seat belt and your child. This could mean that the seat belt is not fitted in place in a way that will provide optimum protection in the event of an accident. Remember, follow the two-finger seat belt rule – you should be able to place two fingers under the seat belt without much wiggle room (if you can’t fit two fingers under the seat belt, or if you find there is a lot of wiggle room when you do, adjust the strap accordingly).

Safety Locks – Switch them On and Leave them On

Children have almost no concept of their own mortality. They can’t imagine that their actions could result in anything worse than a few stern words from a parent or guardian if they were to get something wrong. However, in a moving car, opening a car door can have potentially serious consequences (such as the child falling from the vehicle, or the open car door causing a collision). Child safety locks are there to protect against these eventualities. The driver’s override button is usually located on the driver side door, but if you cannot locate your child safety lock, consult your manual.

Bonus tip: You may also wish to lock your power windows. Children have been known to accidentally activate the rear passenger power window, trapping hands, limbs, and even their heads. This can be avoided with the simple flick of a switch.

Kerb-side Car Seat Placement

This requires a little thought about your regular journeys, and some planning with regards to parking. If you have one child, try to place the car seat on the side of the car that will be kerb- side when the car is stopped. If you have more than one child, try to ensure that the car seat for your youngest child (who is least likely to have any road sense) is placed on the kerb-side of
your car.

Clean Cars Cause Fewer Accidents

This may be something that you have never considered before, but clean cars cause fewer accidents. Not in terms of a clean exterior, which may be muddy or dusty or speckled with the results of parking under a tree filled with birds. Keep the outside clean, by all means. But we’re talking more in terms of a clean and tidy interior – fewer lose items in the car can help to prevent injury. How? In the event of an accident, lose items can fly up, causing injuries that could have been avoided. Now’s the time to remove all those items that are clogging your footwells!

Thanks to Julie