Child Safety In Cars
If you are a new parent, or have a child who is changing age groups, there may be some questions about what the safest way for them to ride in the car is. Children are very vulnerable and need to be seated securely and safely in any and all types of moving vehicles.
For infants, you want to have thin in a rear facing car seat when riding in the car. Their seat needs to be in the back seat not in the front. If they are in the front and something happens and the air bag deploys, the child can be badly injured. Children need to be in a rear-facing car safety seat until they are about two years old or have reached the highest weight or height as allowed by their safety seat. Once they are two years old, they can then sit in a forward-facing car safety seat. These come with harnesses. Toddlers and preschoolers should stay in these types of safety seats for as long as possible until they reach the maximum height and weight allowed for that car seat.
For school-aged children who no longer meet the requirements for a forward-facing car safety seat, they need to sit in a belt-positioning booster seat. This will help them sit comfortably with a seat belt until they are old enough to use the seat belt without a booster seat. When they are old enough or large enough to no longer sit in a booster seat, they should always use the lap and shoulder belt. Children under the age of 13 should always be sitting in the back seat and should be properly buckled in for optimum safety.
Safety around and in cars is just as important as being safely secured in the back seat. You should never leave a child in a hot car, it can result in heatstroke. Children and adults react differently to temperatures, so even if it feels OK to you, it can be fatal for your child. The same also goes for pets. You cannot leave your child in a locked car that is turned off even if you are just going to “run in and run out.” Thinking that by even just running in or out will be OK can result in your child having a heat stroke. Also, don’t allow your children to play in or around your car. If they somehow get trapped in the car, again, the result can be fatal. A car left in outside with no air conditioning or wind flow can instantly be at least 20 degrees warmer than it normally would be.
child safety in a car is very important, and should be taken very seriously. Children should never be standing in a moving vehicle, and should always be seated in the correct safety seats, and buckled in properly. Be sure to teach your kids how to be safe in a car and what to do in case of an emergency.