Making Your Car Safe for Children

Your children are precious and you go to great lengths to make your home safe for them. Don't forget about making your car safe too.
Inspect your car, both inside and out on a weekly basis. Follow all routine maintenance schedules for your car as advised by the manufacturer, including oil changes, and tire rotations. Keep your state vehicle inspection up-to-date. Check the tread on your tires and also check the tire pressure regularly. Look for puddles under the car that may be indicators of serious problems. A puddle of water from the A/C is normal, but a puddle of oil or transmission fluid is not. While you are spending some quality time with your car, go ahead and wash it and clean all of the windows to provide maximum visibility.
 

Remove or secure loose objects in the car. In the event of a wreck or roll-over, loose objects will become projectiles and can seriously injure you and your children. This includes toys, tools, mp3 players, and anything that would hurt if thrown at your face with force. All of these things can either be stored in the glove box or in the trunk.
 
Have your car checked immediately if it begins to handle differently or make any strange noises. Extreme heat and cold are hazardous conditions for young children. Always crank your car several minutes prior to letting your children get in and let the temperature adjust to a comfortable level. Check all metal belt buckles and wait until they are cool to the touch before allowing your children to come in contact with them. Do not, under any circumstances, leave your child unattended in the car for any length of time!

Buy a new car seat or booster seat from a retail store. It's perfectly acceptable to buy second-hand clothes and toys for your child from a consignment sale, but car seats are constantly being recalled for safety issues. You don't have to buy the most expensive seat available, but if you buy a used one, you have no information about the history of the seat or whether it has been involved in a crash. Read the instructions for the new seat and install it to the best of your ability. Then, before placing your child in the seat, drive to the nearest fire station and ask if one of their "car seat certified installers" will give your seat a proper inspection. Keep all instruction manuals that came with the seat and check periodically for recall notices from the manufacturer. Many manufacturers will now let you register the seat and they will send an email alert to you if a recall is issued.

Talk to your children about being safe while riding in and exiting the car. Don’t allow fighting or yelling or anything that is distracting to the driver of the vehicle. Buckle your children’s safety belts or harnesses the moment they get into the car and do not let them unbuckle themselves until they are exiting the car. This may sound extreme, but there is a possibility that another car could impact your car, even while you are parked, and if your children are not buckled, they could sustain bad injuries. If you parallel park your car, tell your children to stay in the car and then let them exit on the side opposite the street. Do not allow children to run around in parking lots or parking garages!

Practice safe driving habits and make good choices. Always drive at or under the speed limit and constantly check your mirrors. If you identify a bad driver approaching you, do everything that you can to allow them to pass you and go on their way. Avoid causing or participating in road rage. Don’t speed up to try and make it through yellow traffic lights. Always leave early enough to make it to your destination on-time without driving fast. If you are going to be late, then just be late. If you cause an accident and hurt your children because you were in too much of a hurry, you will look back and wish you had just taken your time, so always think proactively in order to avoid all of that. If you will be driving with your children in the car at any point in a given evening, don’t drink alcohol at all!

Evaluate the cars of anyone else who will transport your child. Give them a safety checklist and see that they follow it. As a parent, it is your responsibility to keep your children safe, regardless of other people’s opinions or bad habits. If someone else’s vehicle or driving habits are unsafe for your children, do not let them ride with that person, regardless of what they say or whether it hurts their feelings. If this person loves and respects your children, they will make the effort to keep them safe too.

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