Parenting as a Vehicle Safety Feature: How-To Hints

How-To Hints

Of all the safety features on today’s cars - - YOU are the most important one.

Tips from Experts (Safe Kids Worldwide, NHTSA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Firmly hold the hand of children when in driveways, parking lots and sidewalks.
Keep vehicles locked at all times - even in the garage or driveway – and keep keys out of the reach of children.
Teach children to never play in or around vehicles.
Never leave your child alone in a car.
Be vigilant in supervising children, especially when they are in the yard, driveway or parking lot.
Properly restrain all children to prevent them from accidentally activating power windows that can cause injury.
Use your debit or credit card at the gas pump to stay with the vehicle.

Tips for Preventing Trunk Entrapments:

Show children the glow-in-the-dark trunk handle release. When they are strong enough, teach them how to use it properly.
If you have an older car (pre-2001), consider having it retrofitted with a trunk release handle by your dealership.

Tips for Preventing Backovers:

Walk completely around your vehicle before getting in.
Know where children are. Have children stand in a place where they’re in full view.
Teach children to move away from a vehicle whenever it is started.
Consider adding an after-market backup detection device to your vehicle.
Practice and become familiar with any backup detection devices in vehicles you own or drive.

Tips for Vehicle Safety Features:

Try any backup detection system (these may be referred to as parking assist or object detection systems by the manufacturer) in a vehicle before you buy it. Make sure it meets your expectations for effectiveness and ease of use and understand its limitations.
Look at the power window switches in a vehicle you are thinking about buying to see if the windows could be easily closed by a child accidentally stepping on, or putting weight on, the window switch.

Bottom line – when it comes to protecting children in and around cars, the most important safety equipment anyone can install is a responsible adult.

Here are the National Guidelines for Proper Restraint based on the most up-to-date science:

All children 12 and under should ride in a
back seat.
Infants should be in rear-facing child safety seats until at least 20 pounds and at least 1
year old.
Children over 1 year old and between 20 and 40 pounds can be in forward-facing child safety seats, or in rear-facing convertible seats if the child has not reached the maximum rear-facing weight.
Children ages 4 to 8 (up to about 4 feet 9 inches tall) should be in a booster seat and restrained with lap and shoulder belts every time they ride. Adult safety belts alone do not adequately protect children this size from injury in a crash.
Children years 8 old and over 4 feet 9 inches tall can usually fit correctly in lap/shoulder belts.

Visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, www.nhtsa.gov for more information and to keep up-to-date with safety recommendations.

Buckle Up Tips:
You have more influence than you think.

Here are Five Ways to Get Your Older Child Buckled Up In a Back Seat:

1) Give Them Something To Do.
A back seat can be a great place for playing electronic games. Store games in a back seat and makes games in the front seat off limits.

2) Let Them Own the Space.
Tweens are eager to claim their own space. Let them set up places to keep things in a back seat so that’s the first place they want to go.

3) Buckle Up.
Tweens do what you do – If you buckle up, they are much more likely to do the same.

4) Tell Them It’s the Law.
Seat belts are mandatory by law. Let tweens know belt use isn’t an option; it’s the law.

5) Let Them Pick the Radio Stations.
Eight to 12-year-olds are eager to make their own choices, and picking a radio station is often high on their list. Make it a rule: If your child sits buckled in back, he can pick the radio stations.