subject: Children Hurt In Car Accidents - How To Prepare For The Risk [print this page] The first full week in September this year is child injury prevention week. This week exists as an effort to bring to light how many preventable accidents occur which hurt children. Did you know that the biggest reason children are badly hurt or killed is from car crashes?
The U.S. Government's Department of Health and Human Services tracks the number of children injured and killed. In the year 2005, on average, four children died and five hundred and four were injured every day. 25% of these children, according to the car crash statistics, were hurt in a car accident because of a drunk driver. You know, many accidents are unavoidable no matter what you do, but one of the surprising car crash statistics the government gives is that one of the major causes of child car injuries is "improper use of a car or booster seat."
If a car or booster seat is positioned or used incorrectly, children can get hurt and possibly even killed. What is so sad about many car accident injuries is that many of them are preventable. Read the directions for your child's car seat and follow them for the type of car you have. What else can you do?
1. Always wear a seat belt. Your children see you as a role model and will copy what you do. If you don't use a seat belt, chances are your children won't either. Always make sure to buckle up!
2. If your child is under 12 years old, they should ride in the back seat. Small children risk seriously being hurt in a car accident if they are in the front seat because the air bags are not designed for them.
3. You should keep your children in booster seats until age 8 or until they are at least 4 feet and 9 inches tall. Car crash statistics report that booster seats, when installed correctly, give children a sixty percent better chance of avoiding serious injury.
4. Support continuing education and enforcement campaigns in your community. Once we teach our kids proper safety procedures they will be a lot more safe. As you know, it's impossible to watch every single little thing your child doesyou have to be sure to teach them safety and responsibility so that they can take good care of themselves!
The sad fact after all of this is that not every car accident is preventable. Even when we do everything in our power to keep safe accidents happen to the innocent. Children who are hurt in a car accident face a lot of challenges that an adult may not face. A child that has been hurt in a car accident is a tragedy. Talking to a great car accident attorney can help prevent further harm. We need to do everything we can to get hurt children the help they deserve.
