The safety of your children in the car

Anyone with children knows that car safety is important. They are so little and cars are so big, they have to be taught safety by example as well as enforcing safety rules. Contrary to popular belief, children actually listen when their parents talk to them. The only kids who refuse to listen are kids who have never been expected to.

Visibility

Children should know basic car and road safety. Explain to your kids that being the size they are makes them hard to see from the drivers seat of a vehicle. Put them in the drivers seat of your car and ask them to look around them, show them why it is hard to see them rather than just tell them.

Show them how important it is by making sure drivers have given you eye contact prior to crossing in front or behind them of them. Be sure to talk your way through it, so your child is aware that you use your rules to keep you safe too. The more a young child sees you following your own safety rules, the more apt they will be to pick them up instinctively.

Car seats

Quite possibly the most important factor in auto safety with regards to children is their car seats. Any good parent will research the seat they buy to protect their child and only those with the highest safety ratings should be purchased. This goes without saying, your child's safety is worth all the money in the world. Again it is always important to explain your actions to your child. No doubt anyone who has ever driven a 2 year old anywhere has had to answer the question 'Why do I have to get in the car seat?'

This is another place where leading by example will help to drive your point home and make a more lasting impression on your child where safety is concerned. Wear your own seat belt, not just on long trips but every time you get into your vehicle and move it. The tests and research should be enough to convince any rational being, your chances of surviving an accident are considerably higher if you are strapped in. You strap your kids into extravagant contraptions to keep them in place and safe should something happen on the road. Not taking the same precautions yourself simply doesn't make sense.

On the road rules

Driving a car is serious business and should always be treated as such. Again it is important to make sure your children are aware that the road can present danger in a split second; and that the drivers attention is best kept on the road where it belongs. Explain to them that loud noises, sudden movements, arguing and rough housing are all things that can distract even the most prudent driver and put everyone in the car in danger. Parents, your job isn't easy, but remember while you are on the road you have a responsibility to everyone on the road with you to keep your attention on the road and not in your back seat.

Kids are young little creatures, and their attention span is in direct relation to their life span. Car safety is something you should talk to your children about regularly because keeping it in the forefront of their minds will help them to develop habits that keep them safer throughout their lives. Small things make a big impression to the young ones, and following our own rules is something that will impress on your children far stronger than anything you say to them.

by Paige Filler