Driving & Car Safety Tips

IRC Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Clinic is providing these helpful Driving and Car Safety Tips to help keep you safe on the road.

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Driving Safety Tips

Seat Belts

 

• You and everyone in your car must always wear the seat belt because it keeps everyone safe and doubles your chances of surviving a crash.
• The seat belt should cross your shoulder and rest on your hips and pelvis.
• Pregnant women should place the belts over and under their abdomen.

 

Children Car Seats

 

• Select the right car seat based on your child’s age and height. Get the right recommendations in Finding the Right Car Seat to Fit Your Child from Parents Central.
  
  

  Airbags

• Airbags are a supplemental restraint system (SRS) that are meant to be used in conjunction with seat belts. Airbags alone offer less protection than seat belts.
• Airbags deploy at very high speeds of up to 200 mph and can cause injury. Keep your hands away from the airbag cover to avoid serious injury.
• Maintain a good distance between you and the steering wheel. If you sit too close to the steering wheel, you are at risk of being hit by the deploying airbag, which can cause serious and even fatal injuries. Smaller people are usually at risk for this and should therefore adjust there gas and brake pedals to avoid sitting too close to the steering wheel.
• Check for faulty or missing airbags.

 

Head Restraints

 

• It is important to have head restraint positioned properly to prevent whiplash.
• Position the head restraint as close to your head as possible, with the top of your head restraint on level with the top of your head.
• Do not recline your seat too far back to decrease the distance between your head and the head restraint, which will also decrease chance for whiplash injury.
• If you know you’re going to be hit from the rear: sit fully back against the seat and head restraint, shrug your shoulders firmly to reduce neck motion, look straight ahead with your head back slightly, apply the brake firmly if you are fully stopped, and place your hands flat against the steering wheel if you are the driver.

 

Car Safety Tips

Regularly have your car checked for safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)has a program that rates a car’s safety based on crash test results. Called the New Car Assessment Program, it is based on a 5 star rating system. You can visit NHTSA at www.nhtsa.gov to check your car. Head restraint safety is rated by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (www.iihs.org) as well. The following car safety features can contribute to car safety:

 

• Anti-lock brakes (ABS)
• Electronic stability programs (ESP)
• All wheel drive
• Active cruise control
• Crash warning sensors
• High intensity output headlights