Most parents know how important it is to use a proper child safety seat or booster seat in order to keep kids safe during a road trip. However, it’s also important to know what other vehicle dangers pose the greatest risk to children and to keep an eye out for these risks in and around your own vehicle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) identifies five major sources of danger for children in and around motor vehicles. These include:
- Accidentally backing over a small child. Children don’t always understand the importance of staying a safe distance from a vehicle, and drivers can’t always see small children who have darted behind a car that’s about to back up. Vehicles rolling due to not being placed in park or had parking brakes apply also cause injuries.
- Heatstroke. Being inside a hot car for even a few minutes can cause serious damage to a child. Heatstroke in cars can also harm pets.
- Power windows. Getting pinched in a power window can cause serious injuries, and if a window can roll down all the way, an adventurous child might fall out.
- Seat belt entanglement. Children who aren’t in proper booster seats may get tangled in or even choked by a seat belt during an accident.
- Trunk entrapment. Kids don’t always realize that playing in the trunk can mean being trapped – and, like a car’s interior, the trunk can heat up quickly in sunny weather, increasing the risk of heatstroke or suffocation.
If you or a child you love has been injured in a motor vehicle-related accident, please don’t hesitate to contact the experienced Roseville car accident injury attorneys at Caputo and Van Der Walde – Injury & Accident Attorneys. Please use our online Contact form for assistance or call (800) 900-0863, and your initial consultation is free and confidential.