Pregnant women
When pregnant, women should continue to use seatbelts and airbags properly. A University of Michigan study found that “unrestrained or improperly restrained pregnant women are 5.7 times more likely to have an adverse fetal outcome than properly restrained pregnant women”. If seatbelts are not long enough, extensions are available from the car manufacturer or an aftermarket supplier. You can get these extensions in many car marketChildren
Car safety is especially critical for young children, as car safety is generally designed for normal sized adults. Safety features that could save an adult can actually cause more damage to a child than if the feature was not there. It is important to review with others, who may be supervising the child, the rules for car safety. All children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat. Also children weighing less than 85 lb (40 kg) should be in the back seat. This is especially the case if there are airbags in the front seat, as airbags are only designed to protect adults and may injure children; since airbags inflate at high speeds, a child who is improperly seated may be hit by an inflating airbag. That is not just an opinion but is also law in many of the U.S. states and other countries. The Center for Injury Research and Prevention at The Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia has developed a website for parents and caregivers with extensive information about transporting children safely in automobiles.Child safety locks prevent children from accidentally opening doors from inside the vehicle, even if the door is unlocked. The door, once unlocked, can then be opened only from the outside. To find out more about laws relating to children car safety contact your local department of transportation authority.
Infants
Newborn babies should be put in a car seat until they weigh at least 20 or 22 pounds (10 or 11 kg). These carriers are designed to be placed in the rear seat and face towards the rear with the baby looking towards the back window. Some of these carriers are “Convertibles” which can also be used forward facing for older children. With infants, these should only be used facing the rear. Harness straps should be at or below shoulder level.
A rear-facing infant restraint must never be put in the front seat of a vehicle with a front passenger air bag. A rear-facing infant restraint places an infant’s head close to the air bag module, which can cause severe head injuries or death if the air bag deploys. Modern cars include a switch to turn off the airbag system of the passenger seat, in which case a child-supporting seat must be installed.
Infants left in cars
Less has been written about the safety hazard of leaving a child in a parked car, but already two advocacy groups have emerged focusing on separate aspects of the problem: Harrison’s Hope[10] reminds parents never to leave a child in a car to run an errand, while KidsandCars.org[11] has pointed out the problem of absent-minded parents.
Toddlers
Toddlers over 1 year old and between 10 and 20 kg (20 and 40 pounds) should remain in a rear-facing child restraint until they have reached either the maximum allowable weight for the seat, or the tops of the toddler’s head is less than 1″ away from the top of the hard shell of the seat. Once that has been reached, then the toddler can be placed in an appropriate forward-facing child restraint.
Young children
Children who weigh from 40 to 80 pounds (35 kg), are younger than 8, or are shorter than 4 ft 9 in (1.4 m) are advised to use booster seats, which raise them to a level that allows the seat belts to work effectively. These seats are forward facing and must be used with both lap and shoulder belts. Make sure the lap belt fits low and tight across the lap/upper thigh area and the shoulder belt fits snug crossing the chest and shoulder to avoid abdominal injuries.There are two main types of booster seats. If the car’s back seat is lower than the child’s ears, a high back booster seat should be used to help protect the child’s head and neck. If the car’s seat back is higher than the child’s ears, a backless booster seat can be used.
Older children
Children who can sit erect with their back flat against the back of a vehicle’s rear seat, and who’s legs bend comfortably at the knee at the edge of the seat can wear ordinary seatbelts. Be sure the shoulder strap fits snugly across the chest and that the lap belt is placed below the abdomen across the pelvis at the top of the thighs. Children 13 and over can ride up front with little danger from an airbag.
Teenage Drivers
In the UK you can get a full driving license aged 17 whereas most areas in the United States will issue a full driver’s license at the age of 16, and all within a range between 14 and 18. In addition to being relatively inexperienced, teen drivers are also cognitively immature, compared to other drivers.[citation needed] This combination leads to an increased risk of accidents among this demographic.
It is also recommended, and required in some areas, that new drivers stick a printed sign with the words “Novice Driver” in the lower driverside corner of the rear window. This is to alert other drivers that the vehicle is being driven by an inexperienced and learning driver, giving them opportunity to be more cautious and to encourage other drivers to give novices more leaway.
Tags: Automobile, Automobile safety, driving, safety