My mother told a story at a family
gathering years ago about my little brother. Apparently, my
mom was driving back to our house one day from the store and
had put my brother in his car seat in the rear passenger
seat behind her. She was almost home when, all of a sudden,
a police officer pulled her over. When she noticed the
lights reflecting behind her, she glanced over her shoulder
and saw my brother standing up on the back seat looking out
the back window of the car, waving to the police officer!
Somehow, he had figured out how to get out of his child
seat. Almost twenty years later, my brother and the rest of
us can look back at this story and laugh, but at the time it
was no laughing matter.
The Hard Facts
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), most vehicle injuries are the leading cause of death
among children in the United States. In 2005, the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that
1,451 children ages 14 and younger died as passengers in
motor vehicle crashes in the United States alone. In that
same year, it was reported that among the same age group,
approximately 203,000 were injured in vehicle crashes. Want
to hear the shocking breakdown? That's an average of four
deaths and 556 injuries EACH DAY.
Could you imagine what might have happened that day if my
mother had to suddenly stop short while my brother was
unrestrained-or worse, if she was involved in an accident?
I'm sure she shudders when she thinks about it today. The
good news for parents out there is that when properly used,
child safety seats reduce the risk of death in passenger
cars by 71% for infants and by 54% for toddlers ages one to
four (NHTSA 2006).
Rules for Safety
As a general rule, all children under the age of 12 should
ride in the back seat of a vehicle. The reasoning behind
this is that riding in the back seat eliminates injury risk
of deployed front passenger-side airbags and places children
in the safest part of the vehicle in the event of a crash
(CDC 2005).
NHTSA highly recommends the use of booster seats for
children from the age of four until they are at least eight
years old or 4'9" tall (2006).
Make sure that you have purchased the right car seat. If you
are unsure, ask your healthcare provider or contact the
manufacturer of the safety seat. If you are unsure of
whether or not you installed it correctly, take your vehicle
to your local inspection station where a technician can
check it for free.
car rental raleigh nc and
rent a car raleigh nc
A Healthy Breakfast
For Your Child
By
Carolyn Joana
Breakfast is usually the time
when you're busiest - what with packing your kids off to
school, looking after the house and rushing to work too.
Often moms give a ready-to-serve breakfast with sweet
cereals and cereal bars which do not have much of a
nutrition profile to boast of.
Read more...
Everything
Mom needs to know...
