Vehicle Safety Blog I

In addition to Child Identification, we here at Ident-A-Kid are also concerned with your child’s safety. You place your children's safety at the top of your priority list. You shopped for the safest car when you started a family. You read up on car seats for kids and figured out which one worked best for you and your family. You even took your car and car seat to a seat-checking station to let an expert check and approve of your handiwork.

But did you know there are other dangers in and around your vehicle that could seriously harm or even kill your child?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has compiled a list of vehicle dangers that we will be posting over the next couple of weeks. This week’s danger prevention tips from nhtsa.gov are about trunk entrapment and power windows.

Trunk Entrapment

Children are naturally curious and love to explore their surroundings. So, if you leave your kids unattended, in or near a vehicle, it won’t be long before they are playing in it. Hide and seek can turn deadly if they get trapped in the trunk, where temperatures can rise very quickly – resulting in heatstroke or asphyxiation.

Prevention Tips:

• Teach children not to play in or around cars. Teach them that vehicle trunks are for cargo, not for playing.
  


• Always supervise your children carefully when in and around vehicles.
  


• Check the trunk right away if your child is missing.
  


• Lock your car doors and trunk and be sure keys and remote entry devices are out of sight and reach of your kids.
  


• Keep the rear fold-down seats closed/locked to keep your children from climbing into the trunk from inside your car.
  


• Retrofit your car:
  As of September 1, 2001, auto manufacturers were required to equip all new vehicle trunks with a 'glow in the dark' trunk release inside the trunk compartment. Show your kids how to use the release in case of an emergency.
  If your car is older and does not have the 'glow in the dark' trunk release, ask your automobile dealership about getting your vehicle retrofitted with a trunk release mechanism.

What you need to know, now:

• Younger children are more sensitive to heat than older children and adults, and are at greater risk for heatstroke.
  


• High temperature, humidity and poor ventilation add up to the extremely dangerous environment of a vehicle trunk of your vehicle.
  


• Even in cooler temperatures, your vehicles can heat up to dangerous temperatures very quickly. An outside temperature in the mid 60s can cause a vehicle’s inside temperature to rise above 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The inside temperature of your car can rise almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit within the first 10 minutes.
  

Power Windows

Children can hurt themselves with power windows. Many kids are injured when a window closes on their finger, wrist, or hand. Some kids have even been strangled by power windows.

Prevention Tips:

• Never leave your children alone in a vehicle for any reason.
  


• Teach your children not to play with window switches.
  


• Teach your children not to stand on passenger door arm rests.
  


• Properly restrain your children in car seats or seat belts to prevent them from accidentally activating power windows.
  


• Look and make sure your kids hands, feet, and head, are clear of windows before raising the windows.
  


• Never leave the key in the ignition or in the "on" or "accessory" position when you walk away from your car.
  


• If available, activate the power window lock switch so that your children cannot play with the windows.
  

What you need to know, now:

• All new vehicles will have "pull to close" switches, which, as their name indicates, require you to pull up on them to close the window. Older vehicles may have window switches that a child can accidentally step or put weight on, easily causing a window to close.
  


• Some vehicles have power windows that automatically reverse when an object (such as your child's arm or neck) is in the path of a closing window. Check both the individual vehicle rating pages on www.safercar.gov and your owner's manual to see if a vehicle is equipped with this safety technology.
  

For more information about car safety for children and to view the source of this article, please visit www.nhtsa.gov

For more information about Child Identification and Child Safety, please visit www.identakid.com