Ride Safely Together in the Car This SummerVolvo Cars of North America offers eight tips for keeping summer road trip passengers and drivers safe
IRVINE, Calif., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- 'Tis the season for families to pack up their cars and hit the road on trips both short and long. Volvo Cars of North America, a leader in safety innovation, is offering parents tips to pass along to their most precious cargo: their kids. While often overlooked in the safe driving world, kids can present parents with dangerous distractions while driving. Simple, preventative measures can keep both young passengers and adult drivers out of harm's way. "A distracted driver is far more likely to end up in or cause an accident," said Bruno DiGennaro, Volvo senior safety expert. "Oftentimes driver distractions come from young, backseat passengers. Talk with your kids about safe riding practices before hitting the roads this summer. You'll help keep everyone on your road trip out of harm's way." In addition to putting small children and infants in car seats properly, there are other things parents can do to keep children safe in the car. Volvo offers these tips for riding safely:
-- Limit the noisemakers. Parents are more and more turning to "road trip
babysitters" such as Game Boys, portable DVD players and iPods to keep
their kids happy and busy on long trips and when traffic gets bad.
Practice moderation with this in your car. Set rules around wearing
head phones or only having one thing playing at a time. The beeps and
tones that these machines make can be block out the sounds of a beeping
horn or even an oncoming emergency vehicle's siren.
-- Pack low. See more. When the trunk or hatch gets full with bags and
coolers, kids tend to squeeze stuff on to the back shelf of the car or
pile their hatch area right up to the ceiling of the car. This can take
away some key sight lines. At every stop, take an inventory of what has
crept into these sight lines and take 30 seconds to repack your stuff
before you get back on the road.
-- Stick together. Sometimes on road trips, it can be as dangerous out of
the car as it is in the car. Rest stops, restaurants and gas stations
that your family has never been to before pose risks such as not
knowing when and where to look for oncoming cars. Unfortunately, public
places on the open road can also be hangouts for people preying on
young kids. Never send a child under 18 to a restroom by him or
herself. Form teams of at least two to head inside. As alert as you are
on the road, be equally as alert when you make stops.
-- Avoid rival sibling arguments. Let's face it, kids that have to sit in
cars for a longer time than they are used to alongside their brother or
sister may pick a fight with their sibling. These family moments can be
dangerous to parents behind the wheel because their instincts tell them
to break up the fight just as they would if they were in their living
room. Stern warnings to riders about fighting in the car need to be
made crystal clear before you put the car in drive. If things get
really out of hand, pull over and deal with the situation on the side
of the road or at a gas station.
-- Keep the car seat safe for your youngest passengers. The best car seat
is the one that fits your child properly, is easy to use and fits in
your vehicle correctly. Install the car seat in the vehicle's backseat.
Infants under 20 pounds or younger than one year old, should ride in a
rear facing car seat. Check to see that the safety belt holds the seat
tightly in place and make sure the harness is buckled snugly around
your child. Some new cars, including Volvo's, now offer integrated car
seats. Visit http://www.volvocars.com/us/experience/Pages/safety.aspx
to learn more about child safety in cars. At http://www.nhtsa.gov you
can find ease of use ratings for child seats on the market today.
-- Never leave your child alone in car. Young children can overheat
quickly in a warm car. Older children can loosen their seat belt, climb
into the driver's seat, figure out how to undo the parking brake and
potentially cause an accident.
-- Keep small toys in check. Children may get upset and throw their small
toys at you, potentially causing you to lose control of the car and
cause an accident.
-- Engage kids in ride safe ideas. Kids have great ideas and they are more
likely to own them if they come up with them. Ask each kid rider to
come up with their idea to keep their family safe on their road trip.
|
