Car Safety Must for Kids

After watching the video below, my heart is racing and pounding as though it fell from seeing the child fall on the road. Growing up, I’ve seen and heard of car accidents where those involved would be bound at a hospital for long, or worse, didn’t survive for not putting their seat belt on.   Per advice of a Portland car accident lawyer, here are some of the car safety must for kids, we parents should look after.

Seat Belts

When buying a car, we definitely consider a lot of things, even getting car insurance. We in one way or another know of how crucial safety belts/seat belts are. When worn, seat belts reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle, or other passengers (what is called second impact). Seat belts make sure passengers are in the correct position for the airbag to deploy and prevent the passenger from being thrown off the vehicle. They are designed to absorb impact energy by stretching when there’s sudden deceleration. With such,  there is less differential speed between the passenger’s body and their vehicle interior.

We know how important seat belts are, yet most wouldn’t mind, even if it’s against the law. And as parents, we should be the first to secure our kids and be an example to them.

(updated video, previous one was deleted)

 Children Seats

The other thing that parents should provide for when travelling with kids are car seats or child safety seats. Also called restraint car seat, they are seats designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during collisions. Automobile manufacturers may integrate child safety seats directly into their vehicle’s design.

Nowadays, these seats are purchased and installed by consumers with consideration of child’s age, weight, and/or height. Child safety seats provide passive restraints and must be properly used to be effective. (wiki)

Safety Locks

Then there’s the child safety lock regardless which car you drive, it’s a must. These locks are built into the rear doors of most cars to prevent rear seat passengers from opening the doors both during transit and while the vehicle is stationary.

When the child lock is engaged, the interior handle is rendered useless, usually by disconnecting the handle from the latch mechanism, or by locking the handle in place. In this state the passenger cannot open the door from the inside and is effectively “locked in”, the passenger can only be released by someone lifting the outside handle.

Other Essentials You Should Have in Your Car

Safety and Emergency

• First Aid Kit – you never know when this will come handy, even when walking, a slip could cause a cut, or one can get caught in the car door, make sure there are necessary things like band aids, gauze, antiseptic, scissors.
• Water Bottles – for when there’s a significant distance from the next grocery store.
• Food (with long shelf life) for Humans and Pets – getting stranded is not an easy thing. Pack up some energy bars, beef jerky packs, even salami for a quick fix.
• Flashlights and batteries, or mini-lamps, it is never easy to repair stuff in the dark.
• Blankets – needed if you are staying out late unexpectedly, keeps you and the kids warm even inside the car.
• Extra Clothing, even when going out, the kids and I have extra stuff for when unfortunate things happen.
• Printed Maps, yes despite having your GPS, you will need them old reliable maps.

Repairs and Emergencies

• Spare tire along with tire changing supplies such as tire jack, wrench, and WD-40.
• Tire sealant that can easily patch up leaky tires. Then duct tapes, which seems far from it but duct tapes really have a lot of use.
• Car Manual, to better understand your car’s interior.
• Jumper cables to start up your dead battery that took you by surprise. 😀
• Gas can in case you need to walk to a gas station to buy gas.

Other needs

• Portable chargers and solar chargers – communication is easier with your phones, but it will also exhaust your batteries easily. Bringing solar chargers can make this predicament less to think about.
• Eco bags – not just during emergencies, but for everyday use.
• Towels and paper towels for many other things aside from wiping off grease.
• Candles and lighters – just for emergencies, when flashlights and batteries run out.
• Umbrellas – for when rain suddenly pours.

Car Safety Must for Kids

There are other safety concerns about kids when inside a car. Apparently, the car in the video appears to have none of those mentioned above. Had the child been harnessed with a seat belt, she could not have reached the door’s lock. Should the safety lock been engaged, she could have not opened the door. Had she been sitting on a child safety seat, it might have fallen off with her which is another dangerous thing to not be harnessed with a seat belt.

In any case, if you have a car, please make sure that it is safe for the kids. Prevention and being wary is always better than what ifs, thus consider these car safety must for kids and the things you should keep in your car for use in particular circumstances.