Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog
Whether you carpool or are going on a group trip, there are many times when you may be a passenger in a car. If you drive, you may have passengers in your vehicle. if you’re a parent, designated driver, caregiver, or any driver responsible for passengers, you’ll of course want to take steps to keep the occupants of your car safe.
There are several ways you can keep passengers of your car safer:
- Perform regular maintenance: Check the back seats to make sure the seatbelts are working correctly and take your car in for scheduled maintenance. If your car is working correctly, you are less likely to be in a car collision caused by mechanical failure, which keeps everyone in your car safer.
- Keep your car tidy: If you are in a car crash, any objects in your car can become projectiles and can pose a risk to you and your passengers. Put items such as laptops, briefcases, and other items in the trunk to avoid head trauma, lacerations, fractures, and other serious injuries in the event of a crash.
- Reduce distractions: Passengers can be distracting, especially if they’re asking you questions or engaging in animated discussion. The more occupants in the car, the larger the distraction. While you don’t have to ask for everyone to be completely silent, make sure you can focus on driving defensively, no matter what’s happening in the car.
- Consider passenger age: Children should be in the back seat only and should have age- and weight-appropriate car seats or booster seats to keep them safe. If you occasionally have child passengers, it makes sense to keep an extra car seat or booster seat in the trunk, just in case.
- Stay sober: Driving under the influence is always dangerous, but when you have passengers you’re putting them at risk, too. If you were the designated driver but ended up drinking, too, find a safer way home.
- Get familiar with your vehicle: There are likely safety features that can keep your passengers safe—such as child-proof door locks—in your car. Read your owner’s manual so you know how to use them.
- Keep pet passengers restrained: Cats, dogs, and other pets can be a hazard for themselves and for you when they are allowed to roam in the car. They can get underfoot, block your windows, or get into mischief and distract you. In the event of a collision, pets can be thrown around the interior of the car and seriously injured or killed. The safest place for your pet is in a kennel which is either placed on the floor of the car or strapped into a seat so it can’t move around.
When drivers are not careful about passengers, passengers can suffer from serious injuries in a collision, including head or spinal cord trauma, fractures, lacerations, and even life-threatening injury.
If you are a passenger in a car and have been injured, you may wish to contact Flaxman Law Group at 1-866-352-9626 (1-866-FLAXMAN) for a free accident consultation with a Pembroke Park car accident injury claims attorney. Our legal team has recovered over $100 million on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs and we put our more than six decades of combined experience to work for you. Our goal is simple: to get you the maximum compensation you are qualified for.