Commutes during the morning rush hour can be hectic and can mean a risk of car accidents in Hollywood or your community. Mornings during the school year, especially, can be complicated and busy, which can lead to crashes and collisions.
This year, you can make the commute to and from school a little easier by planning ahead. This is the perfect time of year to reevaluate the school run and find new ways to keep your children safe:
Buying a new car seat for your child is one of the first purchases you may make as you plan on a new addition to your family. While using a car seat is the law in Hollywood and across Florida and while parents understand the importance of having a car seat, having the safety device is not enough. To prevent infant and child injuries in a Hollywood car accident, you need to use the car seat correctly.
Statistics show a significant portion of families do not use car seats in a way that will offer the child maximum protection in a crash. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), for example, 75% of car seats are not installed properly. Using a car seat incorrectly can be as dangerous as not using one at all.
A good safety restraint system for your child is the best way to protect your child in the event you are in an accident. While you are driving your child around to school, preschool, or doctor’s appointments, a baby seat or booster seat helps keep them safe. If you are ever in a car accident in Hollywood or any community, a safety restraint system will keep your child from being thrown from the vehicle or from being tossed around inside your car, preventing injury or reducing the severity of injury.
In Florida, baby seats are the law. They’re also just good parenting sense, but with so many options on the market today many parents are confused about which products to buy. The most important thing is to buy the best seat you can and to have it installed and used correctly every time your child is driven somewhere.
If you have children, you’re probably very familiar with the school run. Getting your children to school may be a big part of your mornings. However, lots of other parents in Hollywood and South Florida are doing the same thing – and that can mean a lot of traffic as well as the risk of traffic accidents. Luckily, there are things you can do to make mornings easier.
You can save a lot of distraction and hurry on your morning drive with a few things you can do before each school night:
Now that school is back in session, your children may be relying on the school bus to get to and from school safely. Studies have shown that school bus accidents in Hollywood and the rest of the country are far rarer than car accidents, but injuries involving school buses still do occur and parents have every right to be concerned about their children’s safety.
While taking a school bus to school is safer than walking or getting a ride in a car, children are not invulnerable. The biggest dangers are when children are heading to or from the school bus. Injuries can also occur while the bus is in motion – especially if children get up from their seats.
Theme Parks and amusement parks in Miami and Florida are known for having large and sometimes complex parking lots and parking structures. In fact, you may have a hard time finding your care in some cases after a day of fun. While these parking areas provide ample space, on warm days in the summer and fall they can become quite crowded, making them common sites of parking lot accidents and injuries.
Being involved in a parking lot accident at an amusement park or other attraction can be very frustrating and even frightening. You may have children with you and you may be worried about their safety. Even a minor accident can scare them and can ruin your family outing.
Florida’s new car seat rules went into effect at the start of the month. These new rules require children under the age of 6 to use a booster seat when riding in a car. Before the law came into effect, Florida was one of only two states not to have booster seat legislation.
According to the Florida Safety Council and other safety experts, the new law is a step in the right direction in keeping children safe in cars. Many children who are too tall or heavy car seat still cannot use seat belts safely. Seat belts are designed for adults. Children who use them could be seriously injured in a car accident. If a young child is wearing a seat belt during a car crash in Hollywood or any Florida community, a seat belt can cut into their neck, face, or chest. In some cases, it may fail to restrain the child correctly, leading to serious injury.
A new booster seat law will take effect at the start of the new year across Florida. This law, passed last spring, will require children under the age of 5 to be secured in a federally-approved, crash-tested child safety seat each time they are in a car. The law is meant to reduce the number of child injuries in Homestead and Florida caused by traffic injuries.
While January seems a long time away, this is a good time to buy an age-appropriate child safety restraint system and to learn to use it properly. Even if your child is above the age of 5, using a restraint system correctly can help reduce the chances that your child will be seriously injured in a car accident. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), car seats can reduce infant fatalities by about 70% and can reduce toddler fatalities by 54%. Even before the January 1 deadline, it is a good idea to install and use a child safety restraint system correctly. If you are ever in a car accident in Homestead or your community, this simple precaution can save your child from serious harm.
Child injury in Homestead and other communities is often linked to cars. Not only are car accidents one of the leading causes of injuries and fatalities for young children, but cars themselves pose a risk to children – even if the cars are not moving. Each summer, for example, there have been instances of children dying of heat stroke and hyperthermia after inadvertently being left alone in a hot car.
There are a number of safety devices that can be used to help combat the problem, according to experts:
A recent Florida law passed by Gov. Rick Scott will require parents to use a car seat for their children until the child reaches the age of five. Previously, parents were allowed to use seat belts for children once they turned four, even though safety experts have noted that children should be kept in age-appropriate safety seats until they outgrow them.
Safety experts and pediatricians praise the legislation, but many say that the law may not go far enough. One problem that safety experts note is that under the new law, children are exempt from the car seat rule if the driver is not an immediate family member. This means that if a caregiver or relative is driving the child, they may not need to use a safety restraint system intended for children, and experts agree that in order for safety seats to be effective they must be used each time a child is transported by car. A car collision in Miami or another community, after all, can happen at any time.
Another problem is that age five might still not be old enough to place a child in a seat belt. Seat belts are very effective in preventing head injuries in Miami and other communities in car crashes because they keep passengers in the car and prevent passengers from being ejected through the windshield. The problem is that seat belts at designed for adults. On a small child, the seat belt can dig into the child’s chest or beck, causing deep cuts or even internal injuries. A seat belt may also not fit a smaller child correctly, offering scant protection in a collision. Experts agree that children face more risks in a car collision when compared with adult passengers and should be kept in age-appropriate safety restraint systems until their age and weight exceed safety seat maximums.
Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog