Lyn St. James Offers Back-to-School Tips For Safe Carpooling
9 September 1998
Indy Car Driver and Mom Lyn St. James Offers Back-to-School Tips For Safe CarpoolingLyn St. James and Drive Safer America! Make Safe Driving Information Available Free of Charge AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 9 -- While scurrying from store to store to find the latest in back-to-school gear is often foremost in the minds of parents this time of year, Indy car driver Lyn St. James has partnered with Drive Safer America! to ensure that safe driving techniques and practices remain top-of-mind with parents amid the back-to-school craze. "With the start of another school year, parents find themselves spending a lot more time on the road with kids in the car," says Ms. St. James, a concerned mother and Indy car racer. "When carpooling with children you tend to have a lot of activity in the car which can detract from your ability to drive safely." According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for children of every age between 6 and 14 years old. And as most vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home, simple everyday trips to school and back can be more treacherous than one may think. Ms. St. James offers the following tips to help ensure a safe trip when carpooling to and from school: * Every passenger must buckle up. Don't exceed the capacity of your vehicle. The number of passengers should not outnumber the amount of seatbelts available. Read your owner's manual for specific information on how to properly adjust your vehicle's seatbelts. * Kids in back! As a general rule, children less than 12 years of age should not be permitted to ride in the front passenger seat. If it is necessary to place a child in the front seat so that he or she may have a seatbelt, select the oldest or largest child to sit there. Moreover, it is a good idea to move the front passenger seat back away from the dashboard as children are more susceptible to injury by a deployed airbag. * Remember the younger passengers. Be sure that young children who come along for the ride are properly secured in age- and size-appropriate child safety seats -- and always in the backseat of the car. * Drop children off as close to school as possible. Eliminate the need for children to cross the street. Ensure that all occupants enter and exit your vehicle on the curbside. * Arrange to pick children up at a safe spot away from congestion. Park your vehicle in a place that prevents children from having to walk between busses or other vehicles to get to your car. * Always leave extra time in your schedule. This will help prevent driving too fast when running late. * Make sure that heavy objects are properly secured in the trunk or storage area of your vehicle. During a sudden stop, heavy objects in the passenger compartment could shift and cause serious injury. * Meet regularly with other parents in the carpool. This allows parents to standardize guidelines for in-car behavior and to review any potentially dangerous situations that need to be addressed with the school or other parents. * Stay focused on your driving task. If children behave in such away that makes it difficult to stay alert and pay attention to your surroundings, pull the vehicle off the road into a safe parking lot and ensure that the situation is remedied prior to resuming the trip. * Know your vehicle. Know how your vehicle's limits and how it responds to a full load of passengers. Also, learn if your vehicle has anti-lock brakes. In busy school areas children may run in front of your vehicle making it necessary to stop suddenly. In a vehicle equipped with four-wheel anti- lock brakes, learn to stomp on the pedal, stay on it firmly and steer where you want the vehicle to go. For more information on vehicle safety technologies and accident avoidance measures, visit Drive Safer America! on the Internet at http://www.ittautomotive.com/drivesafer or visit Indy car driver Lyn St. James' site at http://www.lifetimetv.com/sports/lynstjames. Consumers can also request a free Drive Safer America! brochure and ABS instructional video by calling toll free at 800-694-5200. ITT Industries and its subsidiaries' news releases are available at no charge via fax and the Internet. For ITT Industries news and information on the Internet, visit http://www.ittind.com; for ITT Automotive visit http://www.ittautomotive.com. To receive releases by fax, call 800-758-5804, extension 110006.