Mind Vehicle Child Safety This Holiday

Vehicle Child Safety is Most Crucial

As we go about enjoying this holiday, let us be mindful of child safety with vehicles. As grown-ups, it is our responsibility to keep children safe. They cannot grasp the importance of safety. They also cannot keep themselves safe. We owe it to them, ourselves and our society.

Vehicle child safety is an issue that cannot be over-emphasised. Children die from avoidable vehicle-related incidents all the time. The involved adult, parent, or carer in many cases could have done something differently to avoid such disasters. However, there are lessons we can learn from these occurrences.

2-Year-Old Child Dies in Vehicle Yesterday

Just yesterday, in Torrance, Los Angeles, a 2-year-old girl died in a car. The Los Angeles Times reported that she may have been left inside a hot car for up to five hours. According to her mother, she left her in the car with a blanket and turned on the heating to keep the child warm. The mother spent the next five hours drinking with a friend in another car and slept off. By the time she woke up, it was too late for the little girl. She had burns on her face, chest and arms. At 107.5 degrees, her little body cooked to death.

Some questions come to mind… How could she leave a child alone in a car for five long hours? Should she have left a child by herself just to have drinks with a friend? How could she be so careless? What kind of mother would do this? How could she sleep off for five hours knowing she had a child in the car? What was she drinking? Did she get drunk and pass out? Did she use drugs?

Child Safety Conscious this Holiday

Baby girl (18-24 months) strapped into safety car seat.

I don’t have the answers. We may never have all the answers to these questions. What we can do, however, is ensure that we keep children safe around us. This holiday, children are staying back home. This means that they may be playing where you pack your car. You may need to be extra watchful as you drive out or in today. They may be extra excited today and may not watch the road when they cross. This means that you may need to drive extra slowly in the neighbourhood and residential areas.

They may not want to wear their seat belts. You may need to put your foot down and insist “no outing” for anyone who won’t wear the seat belt. Use the child lock. Use the child car seat. Ensure the little ones sit in the back rather than in the front seat. You may need to demonstrate some tough love so that you can keep them safe.

Happy Independence Day! Keep the children safe today. Nigeria is counting on them…

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