Passenger Safety in a Car

Make sure that passengers in your car are safe.

While most driver's education classes focus heavily on driver safety, passenger safety is equally important. Passenger safety should be a big concern for both drivers and passengers. There are several things you can do to keep yourself and passengers in your car (including infants and children) safe.

History

Automobile manufacturers weren't as safety-oriented decades ago as they are today.

Volvo introduced three point seat belts as a standard fitting in 1959 and were the first to do so. Airbags weren't developed until the late 1960s when they were introduced by General Motors. Despite these relatively early advances in passenger safety, Australia's National Roads and Motorists' Association says that it wasn't until the late 1980s that passenger safety really became a selling point for cars. Front airbags are now standard and seatbelts required.

Child Passenger Safety

Small children should always be in a car seat.

Children don't have the well-developed neck muscles that healthy adults do, meaning that in the event of a crash their heads can violently shoot forward, resulting in neck and spinal wounds. This is why children under 80 pounds or eight years of age should always be buckled into a properly-installed car seat. The chest clip of the car seat should be level with child's armpits, and the harness's straps should be tight and lie flat. Children should never be held in an adult's lap in a moving car. The force of a crash will undoubtedly cause the adult to lose hold of the child.

Baby Passenger Safety

Infants risk severe injury in the event of a car crash because of their soft necks and heads. Babies should ride in a rear facing car seat until they are at least one year old and 20 pounds. Rear facing seats spread the area of impact in a crash, supporting the infant and protecting its fragile neck, spine and head. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, properly installed infant car seats reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants in automobile accidents. Parents of premature or very young babies should ask their pediatrician about car beds, which are infant seats that allow the baby to lie flat.

Seat Belts

Make sure that passengers wear their seat belts properly.

Every car passenger, regardless of age, should wear a seat belt at all times. To ensure passenger safety, seat belts must be worn properly. Refrain from "double buckling" (two people sharing a seat belt). Don't tuck the shoulder strap behind your back and make sure that the lap belt is firm. Not only are seat belts safe, but it's illegal to ride in a car without wearing one in much of the Western world.

Drunk Drivers

Never get in a car with a driver who's been drinking. Keep a taxi company's phone number in your purse or on your phone at all times in case refusal to ride with a drunk driver results in you being stranded somewhere. If you're leaving a house party and can't get a hold of a cab or find a sober friend to drive you, see if you can sleep over at the home the party's at.

References

• Infant Car Safety
• Ontario Ministry of Transportation
• Toronto Public Health
• History of Car Safety