Before your child was born, you took steps to protect your unborn baby from being hurt in a car accident. You researched infant car seats. You listened carefully as the police officer, nurse, or car seat safety specialist helped you install the seat into your car correctly. Yet these are only the first steps in protecting your child. Here, our Warrenton car accident lawyers will look at the many ways you can protect your child from car accident injuries, from birth to age 6.
10 Things You Can Do to Keep Your Child Safe During the First Six Years
Whether your child is an infant or approaching school age, there are many things that you can do to keep your child safe from harm. Specifically, you can:
- Keep your child in an approved car seat that is right for his or her age.
- Make sure the car seat is correctly installed in your vehicle.
- Make sure that your child is correctly buckled into the car seat every single time he or she is in the car.
- Ensure that your child is correctly buckled in an age-appropriate car seat whenever he or she is traveling in someone else’s vehicle.
- Pull over if your child is crying, screaming, or otherwise distracting you from driving safely.
- Don’t hand things to your child while you are driving.
- Do not use a cell phone and drive or use other devices that could distract you.
- Make sure that there is nothing sharp or dangerous that could become airborne and hurt your child if you stop suddenly.
- Never drink and drive.
- Do not drive if you are too tired to do so safely.
These things may help reduce your child’s risk of being hurt in an accident, but they will not eliminate the risk. Other drivers may still make bad decisions that could hurt your child. If that happens to you, it is important to protect your child’s legal rights. Calling a Warrenton car accident attorney is the smartest thing you can do to protect your injured child. A lawyer will make sure your child is fully compensated for their losses by the negligent party's insurance company.
