The issue of seat belts on our nation’s buses has not gone unconsidered. In 2002, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported to Congress that the costs and drawbacks of requiring seat belts in school buses would outweigh any potential benefit of requiring children to wearing belts.

The Transportation Research Board says what parents need to know is that children are much safer on school buses than in the family car. Eight times safer, in fact, their studies show. At work to protect children aboard school buses is an integrated engineering design called “compartmentalization,” which provides a passive restraint system, very much like the way eggs in a carton are protected from breaking. Heavily padded and high-backed seats are placed close together and are firmly anchored in place, so in the event of a crash, they absorb the impact, preventing injury to the children.

We all know that accidents can happen at any time and to any one. But hopefully, this information can help put parents  minds at ease that children are safe riding on the school bus.

The folks at Safe Kids USA, along with the General Motors Foundation, has launched a timely new campaign to keep teens safe behind the wheel – and it’s very appropriately called, “Countdown2Drive.”

This national education program is designed to equip teens, ages 13 to 14,  and parents with safe passenger and driving knowledge before the teen is ready to drive legally. The goal -  to help teens learn how to protect themselves in vehicles as they become more independent.

Some Grim Facts about Teens and Cars:  (NHTSA)

• More than 350,000 teens were injured in motor vehicle crashes in 2009. 
• Teenagers are four times more likely to be involved in a car accident as compared to all other drivers.
•  At age 13 and 14, a teen’s risk of dying while riding with a teenage driver is double what it was when they were younger, and it continues to rise each year. 

Countdown2drive gives parents the opportunity to reinforce safety habits that can protect your teen when they ride with other drivers. It’s  these same behaviors that will help keep them safe when they are given the keys to the car, too.

Please check it out.      Thanks, Safe Kids USA!

Clearwater Child Injury Lawyer, your resource for legal, safety and accident prevention information on the web.

 The American Automobile Association conducted a survey and found  76% of parents said safety is their main concern when buying a child safety seat but  the  majority of parents polled didn’t know the specifics in regard to placement, age and height recommendations. In a recent study of 3500 car safety and booster seat installations,  72%  of the safety seats were secured in a way that it could be expected a child would suffer injuries if  in a crash.

With all this in mind, here are some safe practices concerning child seat safety and a website to check the locations of child safety seat inspection stations in this area.

 Safety Checklist

•  Parents should ensure that children up to eight years old or four feet, nine inches tall should sit in a safety seat or booster.
•  All children 12 and younger should ride in the back seat of a vehicle.
•  The safest position for a single car seat is the center of the rear seat.

Florida law regarding safety requirements  for child car and booster seats  is more fully discussed in Chapter 1 of my free consumer guide, “When Kids Suffer Big Injuries: A Parent’s Guide to Child Injury in Florida”  available  on our Florida Child Injury Lawyer website.

Attorney James W. Dodson, working to make safety every child’s reality.

Children learn more from what we do than what we say! Here is a list of precautions you must insist upon when transporting your child:

SAFETY GUIDELINES:

1. Mom’s lap is unsafe. In a collision, a child could be crushed between the adult and the auto interior. Even if the adult is wearing a safety belt, a child could be wrenched from her arms in a collision. Also, never put a seatbelt around both you and a child, or even two children.
2. All car doors must be locked. Engage door handle locks (if your vehicle is equipped with them) if you’re riding with small children. These devices prevent rear seat passengers from opening the rear doors from the inside.
3. Children must never be loose in the front seat and, most importantly, never stand in the front seat. It is impossible to prevent a child, who is sitting beside you, from being flung forward by extending your arm during a crash. In a 20 mph crash, an unrestrained 25 lb. baby has a weight equivalent to 500 pounds!
4. Children must never be unrestrained in the cargo section of a station wagon or let loose to run around inside a van or SUV. Also, NEVER let anyone ride in the bed of a pickup truck, even one with a tarp or shell.
5. Children should sit in the back seat. If a child has no choice and must sit in the front seat with a passenger air bag present, always use a car seat, booster seat or seatbelt (whichever is appropriate), and have the passenger seat as far back as it can go. If the car has an airbag that can be deactivated on the passenger side, do so before placing your child in the front seat. Never put an infant less than 1 year of age in the front passenger seat of a vehicle with a passenger side airbag that cannot be deactivated.
6. EVERYONE in the vehicle must buckle up. An unrestrained adult is a poor role model and can be thrown into others causing serious or fatal injuries.

Steve Rouhana, senior technical leader for safety at Ford, states that inflatable seat belts are a way to get benefits of air bags, but without the risks of swift forceful deployment.

In addition, Rouhana says it’s expected that the devices will provide more safety for children who can be more vulnerable in a crash. The seat belt will expand during an accident to cover more of a child’s torso, helping to reduce head, neck and chest injuries. In 2010, the inflatable seat belts will be offered as an option on the Ford Explorer, and added to other models later.

The inflatable seat belt’s thicker edge and padded feeling should also make it more comfortable in everyday use. The automaker hopes this will help increase the use of rear seat belts. Today, only 61 percent of rear seat passengers buckle up, compared with 82 percent of front seat passengers, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Dodson Law Firm urges all drivers and passengers, young and old to wear seat belts for their protection and for the protection of those they love.