Child safety tips

Here are some tips to protect your children during driving:

1. Choose the proper child safety seat: As the regular seat in the car is simply too large for the small passengers, you should carefully choose a child safety seat according to a child’s age, height and weight. There are different child safety seats for infants and toddlers and as soon as your child has outgrown these, he/she may need a booster seat until they are big enough to wear just a seat belt. Children should usually switch to a booster seat when they reach 40 lbs. and are between the ages of 3-4 to help with the positioning of the child’s seat belt.
2. Always have children ride in the back seat: Children 12 years old or younger should always ride in the back seat because it is generally the safest place in the car for them as there are dangers posed by passenger airbags.
3. Check safety belt fit: The diagonal part of the belt of a safety seat must run roughly over the center of the shoulder (never across the neck) and the lap part of the belt must fit across the child’s hips, and not over the abdomen.
4. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and observe any statutory requirements or information when installing and using child safety seats.
5. Open the glove compartment and switch off the passenger airbag using your car key if you put your child on the passenger seat facing the rear.
6. Frontal crashes are more common than rear end crashes, that is why babies and younger children should be seated rear facing as long as possible to avoid shoulder, neck and spine injuries.
7. Be aware of Toys. Toys can injure your child in a crash, so be careful to choose soft ones that will not hurt your child. A small, loose toy can be dangerous and injure your baby in a crash. Secure loose objects and toys to protect everyone in the car.
8. Be a good example. If you as an adult wear your seat belt, your kids will wear seat belts too, so be a good example and buckle up for every ride, and make sure that everyone in the vehicle buckles up too.
9. When you sell your car, make sure you remove your child’s seat properly in order to have it in a good shape and use it in your new car.
10. Never leave your child alone in a car, not even for a minute. It is dangerous because the temperature inside your car can rise 20 degrees and cause heatstroke in the time it takes for you to run in and out of a store for example.