Car Safety for Kids

According to the National Institutes of Health, children have the highest chance of dying due to a car accident than for any other reason. With that being said, it’s no surprise that car safety is extremely important, especially in the light of north Nashville’s fatal car accident involving 176 cars. Whether you have an infant or a 16 year old hitting the road for the first time following these simples steps can be the difference between life and death.

Seatbelts

The one feature that more than doubles your kid’s safety is a seatbelt. Making sure your child is properly buckled up is one of the best ways you can keep your child safe in the car. However, if you have a little one that will grow up to be escape artist, there are a few companies here to the rescue. You can find products like seatbelt alarms and buckle covers that help bolster seatbelt safety. These devices alert parents when their little ones aren’t buckled up, or prevent them from unbuckling themselves.

Leaving children in hot vehicles

An awfully common event is parents forgetting their children in a vehicle. Consumer Reports stated that 500 children have died since 2008 due to being left in a hot vehicle. One piece of technology that jumps to mind to prevent this is called the Child Minder. You simply put one part of the alarm on the car seat buckle and the other on your keys, and if you get twenty feet from the car seat an alarm will ring. You can also take less tech-y steps like putting a teddy bear on the front seat or placing important items on the back seat.

Car Seats

Choosing the correct and proper car seat for your child reduces the risk of death for toddlers by 54% and for infants by 71%. Therefore, taking the time to research what is the best car seat in the market for your little one should be taken very seriously.

Clean & Maintained Car

Keeping your car clean and well-kept might not be one of the things that you immediately think about when making sure your child is safe in the car. However, it’s surprisingly important. For example, cleaning the vents will prevent dust to go into your family’s lungs. Keeping loose items like cups, food containers and cell phones stored will stops those items from becoming dangerous missiles in the event of an accident. And clean windows and mirrors maximize visibility, especially at night or during bad weather.

Turning 16

The majority of the things discussed above are in your control, but once your children turn 16 things change. One thing parents can do is install a GPS tracking application on their phone or hard-wire one to the car, that way you know where they’re driving to and where they are at all times. The Nissan VTRS (Vehicle Tracking & Recovery System) allows real-time GPS tracking of your vehicle with nationwide coverage. This system not only tracks your teen, but it also comes in handy when car thieves decide to steal your vehicle.

Nonetheless, we can’t forget that as parents we must set the example for our kids from a young age. So adopting and keeping good driving habits will influence our kids once they start driving for themselves.

For those of you looking for a car with excellent standard safety features, consider a Nissan. Several Nissan vehicles, like the Nissan Altima, Nissan Rogue, and the Nissan Murano; have received five star ratings from NHTSA for their safety features and crash test protection. You can find them all at Newton Nissan, the only Nissan Dealership in Nashville with a 5 star Google rating.