WebParenTips - The Online Parenting Newsletter vol.6 no.2, Feb 2005 

                  KIDS AND CARS

Most parents these days are pretty savvy about the
importance of using approved child car seats and
always buckle their children in. Some parents are
less likely to buckle up themselves or insist that
every other adult in the car be restrained.


Listen up if you are one of those parents who drives
unrestrained. In a crash your correctly restrained
child could be killed if struck by another occupant
of the car who was catapulted forward, backwards,
or sideways by the force of the crash. I have in front
of me a study published in JAMA (Journal of the
American Medical Association) that found evidence
that risk of death in a crash is associated with the
restraint use of other occupants in the car. The
death risk is lowest when all other occupants of the
vehicle are restrained.


Don't take a chance. When you buckle your child up
remind yourself that no car should be started until
EVERYONE in the car is buckled up, including you.


While I'm on the subject of kids and cars, let me
call another study to your attention. This study of
government statistics was done by MADD (Mothers
Against Drunk Driving). The vast majority of children
killed by drunk drivers are in vehicles, they are not
pedestrians or cyclists. 68% of children who died
in alcohol-related crashes were in cars where the
driver had measurable levels of alcohol in the blood
and about 75% of these children were in a car with
a driver whose blood alcohol level was over 0.08%
so they were at the mercy of an impaired, drunk driver.


Sadly, often the driver is a parent of the child. MADD
argues that drunken driving with a child in the car
constitutes a form of child abuse. I agree.


Do not let your child get in a car with an impaired
driver, even if the driver is your spouse. Also do
not permit your child to drive with a non-relative
such as a neighbor if you suspect that person
has a drinking problem.


Happy Parenting,
Marilyn Heins, M.D.


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Dr. Marilyn Heins is a Tucson pediatrician, parenting
columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, author of the book,
ParenTips, as well as a mother, stepmother and grandmother.

She is available for workshops and lectures to groups of
parents, teachers, and grandparents. See:

Dr. Heins' Lectures
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