Buckle Up: Do It For You and Them!

Hopefully everyone had a safe and fun Halloween. Speaking of safety, a major safety initiative for November is making sure everyone is seat belted in your vehicle for every trip, every time. Attention parents: this message is for you. You as the driver are responsible for making sure your child is properly belted and in the appropriate restraint system depending on their height and age. And no matter how short the trip is, everyone by law is required to be properly belted or restrained in a child seat or booster seat. Here are a few common excuses/challenges for trying to get your child to buckle up:

1. Non-Compliant Drivers- When parents and caregivers fail to buckle up, children are far less likely to wear their seat belts.
2. Distraction- Kids who are focused on electronic devices, eating, reading or doing other things after getting into a car are preoccupied with something other than seat belt safety. Habits can easily be forgotten or neglected when kids are focused on something else.
3. Discomfort- Sometimes kids will put their seat belts behind their backs or under their arms, complaining that the seat belt is uncomfortable. This could be because they’ve been prematurely moved from a booster to a seat belt and the belt doesn’t fit properly. Make sure your child is correctly fitted in his/her seat belt and consider the possibility that your child may still need to use a booster. Find out when your child is ready for a seat belt.
4. Short Trips and Slower Speeds- Kids will sometimes refuse to wear seat belts when they associate short trips or slower speeds with a reduced risk to their safety—a common misconception. Routine trips can be deceptively dangerous. In fact, most fatal crashes happen within 25 miles of home and at speeds of less than 40 miles per hour.
5. Nighttime- Nighttime gives children a sense of anonymity in the back seat; after all, it’s harder for drivers to see whether their children are buckled up. On long trips, especially, kids may unbuckle their seat belts or put them behind their backs if they want to sleep. (NHTSA.com)

Here are a few statements to say to your child if they refuse to buckle up:

• “After you buckle up, you can use your electronic device.”
• “Not buckling up means not going to [that super-fun place]. It’s your choice—buckle up, or we stay home.”
• “I know we take this short trip every day, but most deadly crashes happen near people’s homes.”
• “We may be driving slowly, but most deadly crashes happen at speeds of less than 40 miles an hour.”(NHTSA.com)