If you drive your kids to school, or having a car is a convenient way for to go to and from work, then you know how important a vehicle is not only for you but for your entire family. What makes it more amazing is that cars nowadays are equipped with top of the line features like the keyless ignition. However, the new technology and features that come with our vehicles can also post a danger, especially to young children.
Janette Fennell, the president of a nonprofit car safety organization called “Kids and Cars” states that even with though our vehicles nowadays have advanced features, there are still some safety issues that we parents have to be aware of.
On her video shared by Inside Edition that now has over 2.5 million views, she shared some tips to make sure that our modern and smart cars are safe for our kids:
1. Power Windows. In just one click, all of your windows can either go up or down! According to Fennell, it would take 22lbs of force to break a trachea of a child and the power windows in our car can give 30 – 80 lbs of force once they go up quickly and can put your child’s life in danger. To make sure that your power windows are safe, it should have an “auto-reverse” feature wherein as soon as it feels pressure, it automatically goes back down. To test this, use a roll of a paper towel to test your power windows.
2. Gears Locked All The Time. The Brake Transmission Shift Interlock or BTSI is one of the car features that we do not really give much importance. But this is very important because once you have this feature, you can never put your vehicle into gear unless you have your foot on the Brake first before you can engage your car into any gear. To test this, make sure that the shift lock release is enabled for your car’s gear shift.
3. Carbon Monoxide Protection. For efficiency and convenience, most cars nowadays have a keyless engine. You just have to push a button and you are ready to drive! However, cars can get so quiet and sometimes, owners drive home into their garage and forget to remove their key. What will happen is that carbon monoxide will build up and this can seep into your home that can possibly cause death once you forget to push that button. To avoid this from happening, make sure that you have a carbon monoxide detector in your garage or in your home close to your garage door.
4. Have A Window Breaker. Fennell suggests that everybody should have a “Resqme” window breaker on their keychains. Make sure that you carry this car escape tool anywhere you go so you can easily break your window glass in case someone, especially a kid gets locked inside.
5. Glow In The Dark Trunk Release. For cars that are models 2002 and newer, most of them have a glow in the dark trunk release in case of emergencies. All you have to do is push it and you will be out safely in no time.
Do not wait for problems to arise. Make sure that you check these things ahead of time to keep your family, most especially your young children, safe inside your modern car.
