3 Ways to Reduce Child Injuries in Car Accidents
Children are our greatest and most precious resource so ensuring their safety should always be a priority. Children are especially vulnerable to injuries in a collision so parents and other drivers responsible for their child passengers should follow these 3 ways to reduce the risk of injury to children.
The primary reasons children suffer spinal cord and brain injuries in a car accident is because they were not properly restrained.
Children 8 to 12 years of age are a group whom parents frequently fail to restrain in the correct safety or booster seat, which can reduce the risk of any car accident injuries by 20%. When buying a seat, read the manual before buying it to ensure it is the proper one per your child’s age, height, and weight. There are adjustments that should be made for the seat to tailor to your child’s size. You can check to see if your child is properly restrained and in a certified seat by asking your local police department to check the seat and how you buckle your child to it.
60% of children who died in car accidents were because of intoxicated or impaired drivers. This may be obvious but how many times do parents have a few drinks and think they are not impaired and drive? If you had a few drinks, do not risk your child’s safety or your own or others. If you were drinking, wait a few hours before driving or postpone the trip. If your child needs to be somewhere such as childcare or a medical appointment, call an Uber or Lyft.
Even more prevalent and more insidious than drunk driving is distracted driving, which usually means using your cell phone while driving. You're 23 times more likely to be in a car accident when texting. Your chances are not much less when dialing your phone or reading a text or email message.
Use a hands-free device or Bluetooth, which most new cars have this as standard. The best practice is not to call anyone unless absolutely necessary and to keep calls to just a few seconds.