Protect Your Children-In and Around Cars

Car Abductions
As parent’s lives get busier with their children and juggling their hectic work schedules, many things are competing for their attention.
Some parents may think that leaving the child in the car for a few minutes is an acceptable thing to do, but those few minutes usually turn into 5-30 minutes or more. Those minutes can prove to be dangerous or even deadly. When it relates to your child their safety should be the first focus.

The dangers of leaving a child alone in a car can include:
Heat stroke/Death
Strangulation in a car window
Injury from being backed over or setting a car in motion
Abduction by a stranger
Trunk Entrapment

Across the nation there is a trend in child abductions after a parent mistakenly goes into the store for a quick item and leaves the child with the car running outside. The thief means only to steal a car but then finds a child sleeping in the back. Many of those cases have turned into situations where the abductor will abandon the car with the child inside. Some may leave the car running while other do not, further compromising the safety of the child from exposure to the elements.

Protect your children by following safety measures and never leave them alone in or around a car.

Just like your car you child can be gone in 60 seconds.

Know the Hot Spots Safety Tips:
Check the backseat when getting out of a car
Place an item you will need in the back or place a diaper bag in the front seat with you
Teach children not to play around cars
Keep keys out of the reach of children and the car locked at all times
Check the entire vehicle first if your child is missing
Be cautious of inside temperatures when placing a child inside a car
Teach children not to play in, on or around cars.
Never leave a child unattended in a car, even with the windows down. On a typically sunny, summer day, the temperature inside a car can reach potentially deadly levels within minutes.
Always lock car doors and trunks – even at home – and keep keys out of children’s reach.
Watch children closely around cars, particularly when loading or unloading.
Check to ensure that all children leave the car when you reach your destination.
Don’t overlook sleeping infants.
When restraining children in a car that has been parked in the heat, check to make sure seating surfaces and equipment (car seat and seat belt buckles) aren’t overly hot.
If your child gets locked inside a car, get him out and dial 911.
Teach older children how to disable driver’s door locks if they unintentionally become entrapped in a car.