Travel Safely

When traveling, safety is always on everyone’s mind. However, I was shocked to find out that of the child fatalities reported in 2002 which were caused by automobile accidents, many of the children were completely unrestrained (i.e. no seat belt or child safety seat at all). I also recently heard on a local news report that many child safety seats are installed incorrectly. This is so disconcerting because you think you’re all set by having your child in a good, sturdy safety seat just to find out that the seat won’t protect your child in an accident. Every state has their own laws governing seat belt and child safety seat usage, however I’m a big advocate of making sure our children (and ourselves) are buckled up properly. Seeing the country by car is a great way to travel, but only if you get where you are going safely. Please visit the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Child Passenger website at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/childps/ for information on how to properly secure your children in the car. It has all kinds of great information from how to properly install your child safety seats (including boosters) to the most recent recalls for child safety seats. It also gives information on where to find your nearest fitting/inspection station for child safety seats. There’s a wealth of great information on this site, beyond what I've mentioned here, and if you love to take the family on road trips, I strongly suggest you check it out!