Car travel's hidden dangers to your child

MANILA, Philippines - Parents, take note: Your moving car is not a safe place for your child. Dr. Anthony Calibo from St. Luke’s Medical Center states that statistically, road traffic injury is a top cause of death among children aged five to 14 years old. What puts our children’s lives in danger while we travel?

• Talking on the phone. As early as 2006, studies have confirmed that “people are as impaired when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit,” said Frank Drews, a psychology assistant professor from the University of Utah.

You would not drive while you’re drunk, especially if your kids are riding with you, would you? Then stop talking on the phone while you’re driving; it’s just as bad.

• Texting while driving. If talking on the phone is dangerous while driving, texting while driving is many times worse. A 2009 study done by Car and Driver magazine showed that while a drunk driver takes four extra feet before he can brake in an emergency compared to an unimpaired driver, a driver who is texting takes 70 extra feet to make a full stop.

We’ve all done this, so let’s make a universal cringe of shame at the kind of danger we put our kids in when we text while we drive.

• Putting children in the front seat. The airbag was designed to protect adults from crashing their heads onto the steering wheel or dashboard. But to do its job, the airbag has to inflate at a speed of around 320km/h! This amount of force hitting a child can cause serious injuries such as friction burns, fractures, even death.

So remember, never place a child in the front seat of a car with an active airbag. If you must place a child in the front seat, turn the airbag off, but remember to turn it on again when the front seat passenger is an adult. If the airbag can’t be turned off, keep the child in the back seat.

• Not using car seats and seatbelts. Imagine a heavy rock and a light one, both thrown with equal force — which one will fly farther? The little one, right?

You are like the heavy rock; your child, the little rock. In the event of a collision, your sheer weight may keep you in the car, but an unstrapped child is likely to turn into a projectile, crashing right through the windshield.

Unfortunately, most built-in seatbelts don’t offer good protection for children. The shoulder strap goes across their necks rather than their shoulders; in a collision, it could strangle children rather than protect them.

If your child is less than three years old, he/she should be strapped in a car seat with a five-point harness. After that, he/she can use a booster seat, which boosts the child up so that the shoulder strap of the car’s built-in seatbelt falls across the child’s chest, not on the child’s neck. Children should use the booster seat until they are over 12 years old and more than four feet tall.

When choosing a car seat or booster seat, make sure that you use or get one that is comfortable so that your child will not resist using it. It should be easy to install. The harnesses should be easy to adjust. Most of all, car seats should be made of sturdy materials and designed to give the best protection against impact.  

At the Aprica Childcare Institute, researchers study, day in and day out, how the child’s body and brain grow and develop, and how to best protect them. Aprica car seats are the product of this meticulous research. No wonder Aprica is the preferred brand in Europe and of the Japanese Imperial family.

Today, you, too, can give your kids the best travel protection possible. Aprica car seats and booster seats are available at all Baby Company outlets in SM department stores nationwide. To learn more about Aprica products, like Aprica Philippines on Facebook/ApricaPH.