4 Tips to Prevent Traffic Accidents with Children
Every parent wants to safeguard their children and ensure their happiness. Therefore, it’s vital for them to know how to act in situations that are out of their control. More specifically, in this article, we’ll give you some tips on how to prevent traffic accidents with children. Take note!
Traffic accidents are definitely a major cause of death and injury among children. Fortunately, you can do a lot to prevent them and it’s your responsibility to comply with safety standards.
As they grow and develop, and with the help of adults, children become increasingly able to ensure their own safety. This is the first step to making them more responsible people. Thus, parents can play a key role in the protection of their children if they know how to prevent traffic accidents with children.
You should talk about basic road safety concepts at home with your children.
In fact, many accidents occur that could have been prevented if people were doing the things they were supposed to be doing behind the wheel. Here are some tips to help you avoid traffic accidents with children and get to your destination safely.
4 tips to prevent traffic accidents with children
1. Seatbelt use is mandatory to prevent traffic accidents
Children should always wear a seatbelt in a car. Infants and children under the age of five must be in an appropriate car seat from birth. Thus, to guarantee the best possible protection, babies and children should ride in rear-facing car seats in the back seat until age two or until they reach the weight or height corresponding to this age.
However, once children pass this initial stage, they should fasten their seatbelt into a forward-facing convertible car seat. They must be secured there until they’re at least five years old or exceed the weight or height that the car seat instructions indicate.
Also, don’t forget that sitting in the car with a backpack on makes the child run more risks of injury in case of an accident. Thus, your child should place his backpack in the seat next to him or at his feet.
2. Keep your eyes on the road
While you’re driving, you should do just that and nothing more. This is especially important when riding with children. Don’t let what happens inside the car distract you from your most important task at the moment: driving.
In fact, you shouldn’t do any other task inside your car. This is precisely to ensure that you don’t compromise your safety and the safety of those who ride with you. If you don’t concentrate solely on driving, you increase your chances of being in an accident.
3. Safety when entering or exiting the vehicle
Third of all, you must bear in mind the importance of ensuring safety when entering and exiting the vehicle. In this regard, you should always place your child’s car seat in the seat farthest away from traffic.
This way, your child will get used to always getting in and out of the car through the safest door. Once your child exits the car, take her hand and explain where other cars could come from whenever you have a chance.
4. Keep an eye out for children
Finally, you should take into consideration that children and animals can pose a great risk of an accident. In fact, both children and animals have the habit of jumping suddenly between parked cars and in roads. Thus, it’s common for them to appear at the most unexpected moment.
If you’re driving in a residential neighborhood, be careful and slow down. Children are unpredictable and, due to their height, they often fall outside the viewing angle of rear-view mirrors.
Before concluding, we have to remind you that if you have a traffic accident with children, you should call an ambulance immediately if you think they suffered some kind of serious injury. In any case, we’re convinced that you’ll greatly reduce your risk of having a traffic accident if you follow these tips.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
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