Travel Safety Tips Be safe on the road this summer The summer months mark the time of year when car accidents are most frequent. If you’re planning a road trip, pediatrician Laura Jana, a certified child passenger safety (CPS) technician, mother of three and author of Heading Home With Your Newborn (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2005), offers these important vehicle safety tips? Tips to help families safely enjoy their time on the road this summer: 1. Select car seats carefully. Make sure you have a seat that fits your car and your child properly; test the seat in your car before purchasing it. Ask your car dealer for a list of child car seats recommended for your specific vehicle. 2. Invest in side-impact protection. Twenty-five percent of all crashes are from the side, with a significantly higher fatality rate than front or rear crashes. Look for car seats with deep side and head wings made of energy-absorbent material and an adjustable head support to minimize lateral head movement in a crash. 3. Get it checked. It’s estimated that at least 80 percent of car seats are installed and used incorrectly. Read your car seat and vehicle manual, and visit the car seat manufacturer’s Web site for information. Then have a certified CPS technician check your child’s seat. Visit the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration online at www.nhtsa.dot.gov for a list of nearby child safety seat inspection stations. 4. Don’t rush your child out of a car or booster seat. Parents are tempted to turn their kids forward-facing or graduate them to a booster seat as soon as they reach the bare minimum weight limit. But child seats with higher weight limits for rear-facing and five-point harness use provide greater protection. 5. Clean up. Anything that isn’t secured in the car can potentially become a projectile in a vehicle crash. Look around the inside of your vehicle and store or secure loose objects. 6. Stay focused on the road. Save phone conversations (even hands-free, which research shows can be just as distracting as handheld cell phones) for when you’re not behind the wheel. If you need to hand your child food, or pick up a dropped toy or sippy cup, pull over and stop the car. 7. Don’t leave kids unattended in a car. Car temperatures can climb dangerously high, and kids left alone can accidentally bump a running car into gear. 8. Teach your children safety basics. Teach your child how to provide his full name, address and phone number(s), as well as what to do if you become separated while away from home. – Christina Elston