FAP offers summer car safety tips for children

FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — With summer months comes hot weather in Texas, and the Child Passenger Safety Program team shared pointers to make sure children are safe in the car during this season.

Don’t leave a child in the car

According to Texas Health and Human Services, heatstroke is the leading cause of non-crash, vehicle-related deaths in children younger than age 15 and a child’s body heats up three to five times faster than an adult’s.

Monica Garza, trainer and educator for the Child Passenger Safety Program with Family Advocacy Program, says leaving items in the backseat, such as wallet, phone, right shoe or other personal items, are a great way to remind parents to check the backseat.

“Especially for new parents, fatigue and being tired can cause a parent to be forgetful,” she said. “Medications can overwork us. Military people sometimes work those 24-hour shifts, and just a change of routine or schedule can cause someone to drive past, maybe that daycare and forget that their child is in the backseat. So, it’s important to set those reminders for yourself.”

Garza also recommends never leaving the vehicle running with your children in it. At Fort Cavazos, a child under the age of 14 cannot be left alone in the car unsupervised even if it is running.

“(A parked car) heats up within minutes up 40 degrees,” she said. “You just want to move as quickly as you can when you’re installing your child, but you want to ensure that you’re doing everything correctly and safely.”

Garza suggests when going to the store, seek help for loading the car if you can. Packing the merchandise and installing the children in the car quickly and safely without leaving them alone or for an extended time is the goal.

Installing a car seat

Garza said properly installed car seats can reduce the risk of injury by up to 82% if they are used correctly.

“You want to make sure they are installed properly,” she said. “That is by reading the car seat manual, ensuring that it is installed properly with that car … Every car seat, every vehicle, is different, so you want to read the labels.”

Garza’s top tips for installing a car seat are to make sure to check the expiration dates are current, avoid secondhand seats and know the safety laws including the ages and where children should be in the vehicles.

Additionally, make sure children are strapped correctly.

“If you have an infant or a child who’s rear facing, you want to ensure that the harness is going to lay either flat on their shoulders or come up from below their shoulders,” she said. “When you have a child that is forward facing, you want to ensure that the harness is going to lay even or come from above, just above their shoulders … Now as far as the crotch clip over the bottom, you want to make sure that’s going to lay snug on the child’s area. It shouldn’t be too loose. It should lay nice and snug properly on them.”

Child Passenger Safety Program

The Child Passenger Safety Program services military families every second and fourth Friday at the Sprocket Auto Crafts Center to ensure car seats are properly installed and up to date.

The team also shows parents how to properly secure children in their car seat.

Sgt. Lynch Kyle, a first-time father and Soldier with Charlie Company, 615 Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, received service from the program and said the biggest thing he took away from the safety inspection was how to tighten the seat belts to remove slacks and properly attach the car seat.

“When I installed it, I always wondered why my car seat was so wobbly, and I ended up figuring it out myself,” he said. “But now, having this experience, I know what to do. Instead of having to figure out how to make it tighter, instead of trying to Google it, I could just do it myself, knowing that I’m doing it the correct way.”

Kyle said the safety of his child is his No. 1 concern.

“My child’s safety means everything to me, and I want to make sure that I’m putting him in the best position, especially under my care, about me driving that anything can happen, that he’ll be safe,” he said. “(I) feel like it’s okay for me to get help from people who got more experience, and they can teach me along the way. So, I’m glad I came.”