Kids and Cars.Org - Canada
Kids and Cars.Org - Canada
Arnold Pizzo McKiggan is proud to announce its partnership with KidsAndCars.org to create KidsandCars.org - Canada.
Unrecognized Dangers
Everyday children are injured in and around cars. Power window strangulations, heat stroke, low speed crush injuries from back overs and front overs are just a few examples of what can happen when children are left alone or unattended in and around motor vehicles.
KidsAndCars.org has worked diligently to bring public attention to the dangers our children face and to raise public awareness of this largely unrecognized safety problem.
KidsAndCars.org has been instrumental in passing new legislation and initiating federal policy changes leading to the redesign of motor vehicles to make them safer for children.
Arnold Pizzo McKiggan is proud to announce that John McKiggan has been asked to partner with KidsAndCars.org to launch this important initiative in Canada. John has agreed to volunteer his services as Chair of Kidsandcars.org - Canada.
Kids and Cars Canada will be dedicated to public education around the dangers that cars can pose to children and to collecting data on how often children are injured, disabled or killed because they are left unattended or around motor vehicles.
HEAT STROKE DEATHS: A preventable tragedy
So far this year, eighteen (18) children in the United States have died inside hot vehicles. KidsAndCars.org data confirms that more children died in 2010 from vehicular heat stroke than ever before. There were a total of 49 fatalities.
There are no reliable statistics from Canada because, until now, there has been no government or non-profit orgainization that has been tracking this vital information. But there is no reason to think that the Canadian experience would be statistically different.
Kidsandcars.org - Canada is now collecting data to help educate the public about this type of senseless, and preventable, tragedy.
Please help us raise awareness about these predictable and preventable tragedies.
Statistics (Source kidsandcars.org)
Contributing Factors
A child’s body temperature rises 3-5 times faster than an adult’s. Even with the windows partially down, the temperature inside a parked car can reach 125 degrees in just minutes. Leaving the windows opened slightly does not significantly slow the heating process or decrease the maximum temperature attained.
There are several factors that contribute to children being inadvertently forgotten by care givers. Most important is the fact that our brains are not keeping up with the demands of our busy lives. The most common factors include a change in one’s normal routine, lack of sleep, stress, fatigue, distractions, and hormone changes. When these factors combine, the ability for the brain to multi-task is diminished.
As parents know, life with newborns and small children is full of stress, sleep deprivation and distractions. And young children, especially babies, often fall asleep in their car seats; becoming quiet, unobtrusive little passengers. And sadly, for babies with rear-facing seats, the seat looks the same from the front seat – whether occupied or not.
Vehicular heat stroke is largely misunderstood by the general public. The majority of parents would like to believe that they could never “forget” their child in a vehicle. The most dangerous mistake a parent or caregiver can make is to think it cannot happen to them or their family.
In well over 50% of heat stroke fatalities, the person responsible for the child’s death unknowingly left them in the vehicle. It happens to the most loving, protective parents. It has happened to teachers, pediatricians, dentists, postal clerks, social workers, police officers, nurses, clergy, electricians, accountants, soldiers, and even a rocket scientist. It can happen to anybody.
CIRCUMSTANCES
KidsAndCars.org - Canada will continue to lead the efforts to prevent these heartbreaking tragedies.
Ages
Children who have died from vehicular hyperthermia in the United States (1998-2009) have ranged in age from 5 days to 14 years. Thirty-one percent (31%) of hyperthermia deaths involve children under the age of one-year. In most states, infants are required to ride in rear-facing infant seats, in the back seat of a vehicle.
Rear-facing infant seats do not look any different from the front seat if they are occupied or empty, which can cause a parent to think the child is no longer in the car with them.
<1-year old 31%
1-year-old 23%
2-years-old 20%
3-years-old 13%
4-years-old 6%
5 thru 14-years old 7%
Eighty-seven (87%) of children who have died from vehicular heat stroke are age 3 and younger!
Prevention
KidsAndCars.org - Canada believes the solution to these preventable tragedies lies in technology that would include safety features that can warn if a child is left in the vehicle and in raising public awareness that this can happen to anyone; that the results of a momentary lapse of memory can be horrifying.
KidsAndCars.org - Canada is promoting legislation that would make it a requirement that all vehicles come equipped with an alarm that would alert a parent if a child has been left in the vehicle.
Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org - Canada
A recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention studied injury data over a 10 year period from 1994-2003. Back over collisions involving children under the age of 14 were identified and classified.
There were 4,295 child pedestrian motor vehicle collisions reported to the Canadian Hospital Injury Reporting and Prevention Program during the study. 148 (3.4%) of the children were injured in back over collisions with 49 (33.1%) of the children involving a car backing out of a driveway.
The study found that children involved in back over collisions tended to be significantly younger then in rollover or other collisions.
The authors concluded that although back over collisions represented only a small portion of pedestrian car collisions, they tended to involve more serious injuries requiring hospital admission.
For more information you can read Blind Spots a Big Danger for Young Children: Child Injury Prevention
Airbags
Every new car sold in Canada and the rest of North America is equipped with air bags as standard equipment. Air bags are an important safety feature. But it is equally important that parents not underestimate the dangers air bags pose for children.
In a car crash, airbags shoot from the dashboard with enough force to stop a full grown adult from hitting the dashboard.
The same that is designed to protect an adult from injury is enough to seriously injure or kill a child.
Child Car and Booster Seats: New Study Shows Parents Need Further Education
Good News
A recent survey released by Transport Canada shows an increase in the number of parents who are using child car seats and booster seats. That's the good news.
Bad News
However, the bad news is that the survey also indicated that some parents and care givers are still not using car seats or child restraints correctly, or in some cases not using them at all!
Survey Says...
The 2010 Canadian National Survey on child restraint use was conducted to determine whether parents and care givers were properly using child seats and seat belts when traveling in motor vehicles.
As part of the study researchers observed a total of 7,307 vehicles with 9,772 child passengers across Canada. The researchers found that 95.8% of child passengers were restrained. The survey also found the 91.5% of the population
was using some type of child restraint in a moving vehicle.
Almost Half of Children Not Properly Restrained
However, researchers estimate that child safety seats were used correctly only 64% of the time. 46 children out of 100 are not properly restrained when driving in cars.
In other words, almost half of all children travlling in cars are exposed to needless dangers and risks because they are not properly restarined in a car seat or booster seat.
Halifax Regional School Board to Comply With Legislation to Make Children Safer on School Buses
Starting in January 2012 the Halifax Regional School Board will comply with Provincial regulations requiring children under age nine or smaller than 4’9” and 40 pounds to be secured in a child restraint system while riding on school buses.
According to Doug Hadley, spokesman for the Halifax Regional School Board, they are going to start weighing and measuring students who may fall under the provincial regulations.
The Seat Belt and Child Restraint System Regulations have been in place in Nova Scotia since 2007 and have been implemented in most school boards around the province. However, the Halifax Regional School Board uses a private contractor, Stock Transportation to run their school buses and HRSB has been late to introduce the changes.
Kids and Cars Canada is pleased to see that the Halifax Regional School Board is finally making changes to comply with provincial legislation which will help improve the safety of our children.
Want to Help?
You can contact us to find out how you can volunteer to bring this important safety message to Canada.
Media Coverage of Kidsandcars.org - Canada
John McKiggan's Interview with Scott Kitching
98.1 Free FM | Blackburn Radio (London)
More Information
Child Safety: Sunny Days and Kids in Cars
Children Should Stay in Rear Facing Seats Longer: Child Safety Experts
Car Seat Recall a Reminder to Parents About Possible Dangers to Children
Embrace Life!
Teenagers with ADHD at Higher Risk of Car Accidents
Media Contact Information
John McKiggan
Chair: Kidsandcars.org - Canada
john@apmlaw.ca
Office: 902-423-2050
Fax: 902-423-6707
Arnold Pizzo McKiggan is proud to announce its partnership with KidsAndCars.org to create KidsandCars.org - Canada.
John McKiggan, Chair of Kids and Cars - Canada with Janette Fennell, Founder Kidsandcars.org
Unrecognized Dangers
Everyday children are injured in and around cars. Power window strangulations, heat stroke, low speed crush injuries from back overs and front overs are just a few examples of what can happen when children are left alone or unattended in and around motor vehicles.
KidsAndCars.org has worked diligently to bring public attention to the dangers our children face and to raise public awareness of this largely unrecognized safety problem.
KidsAndCars.org has been instrumental in passing new legislation and initiating federal policy changes leading to the redesign of motor vehicles to make them safer for children.
Arnold Pizzo McKiggan is proud to announce that John McKiggan has been asked to partner with KidsAndCars.org to launch this important initiative in Canada. John has agreed to volunteer his services as Chair of Kidsandcars.org - Canada.
Kids and Cars Canada will be dedicated to public education around the dangers that cars can pose to children and to collecting data on how often children are injured, disabled or killed because they are left unattended or around motor vehicles.
HEAT STROKE DEATHS: A preventable tragedy
So far this year, eighteen (18) children in the United States have died inside hot vehicles. KidsAndCars.org data confirms that more children died in 2010 from vehicular heat stroke than ever before. There were a total of 49 fatalities.
There are no reliable statistics from Canada because, until now, there has been no government or non-profit orgainization that has been tracking this vital information. But there is no reason to think that the Canadian experience would be statistically different.
Kidsandcars.org - Canada is now collecting data to help educate the public about this type of senseless, and preventable, tragedy.
Please help us raise awareness about these predictable and preventable tragedies.
Statistics (Source kidsandcars.org)
- Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2011 YTD: 18
- Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2010 YTD: 49 (highest # of fatalities for a one-year time period)
- Child vehicular heat stroke deaths for 2009: 33
- Child vehicular heat stroke deaths from 1998-2011, at least: 511
- Average number of child vehicular heat stroke deaths per year since 1998: 38 (one every 10 days)
Contributing Factors
A child’s body temperature rises 3-5 times faster than an adult’s. Even with the windows partially down, the temperature inside a parked car can reach 125 degrees in just minutes. Leaving the windows opened slightly does not significantly slow the heating process or decrease the maximum temperature attained.
There are several factors that contribute to children being inadvertently forgotten by care givers. Most important is the fact that our brains are not keeping up with the demands of our busy lives. The most common factors include a change in one’s normal routine, lack of sleep, stress, fatigue, distractions, and hormone changes. When these factors combine, the ability for the brain to multi-task is diminished.
As parents know, life with newborns and small children is full of stress, sleep deprivation and distractions. And young children, especially babies, often fall asleep in their car seats; becoming quiet, unobtrusive little passengers. And sadly, for babies with rear-facing seats, the seat looks the same from the front seat – whether occupied or not.
Vehicular heat stroke is largely misunderstood by the general public. The majority of parents would like to believe that they could never “forget” their child in a vehicle. The most dangerous mistake a parent or caregiver can make is to think it cannot happen to them or their family.
In well over 50% of heat stroke fatalities, the person responsible for the child’s death unknowingly left them in the vehicle. It happens to the most loving, protective parents. It has happened to teachers, pediatricians, dentists, postal clerks, social workers, police officers, nurses, clergy, electricians, accountants, soldiers, and even a rocket scientist. It can happen to anybody.
CIRCUMSTANCES
- Unknowingly left in vehicle: 54.25%
- Got into vehicle on their own: 31.58%
- Knowingly left in vehicle: 11.94%
- Circumstance Unknown: 1.82%
KidsAndCars.org - Canada will continue to lead the efforts to prevent these heartbreaking tragedies.
Ages
Children who have died from vehicular hyperthermia in the United States (1998-2009) have ranged in age from 5 days to 14 years. Thirty-one percent (31%) of hyperthermia deaths involve children under the age of one-year. In most states, infants are required to ride in rear-facing infant seats, in the back seat of a vehicle.
Rear-facing infant seats do not look any different from the front seat if they are occupied or empty, which can cause a parent to think the child is no longer in the car with them.
<1-year old 31%
1-year-old 23%
2-years-old 20%
3-years-old 13%
4-years-old 6%
5 thru 14-years old 7%
Eighty-seven (87%) of children who have died from vehicular heat stroke are age 3 and younger!
Prevention
KidsAndCars.org - Canada believes the solution to these preventable tragedies lies in technology that would include safety features that can warn if a child is left in the vehicle and in raising public awareness that this can happen to anyone; that the results of a momentary lapse of memory can be horrifying.
KidsAndCars.org - Canada is promoting legislation that would make it a requirement that all vehicles come equipped with an alarm that would alert a parent if a child has been left in the vehicle.
Safety Tips from KidsAndCars.org - Canada
- Never leave children alone in or around cars; not even for a minute.
- Put something you'll need like your cell phone, handbag, employee ID or brief case, etc., on the floor board in the back seat.
- Get in the habit of always opening the back door of your vehicle every time you reach your destination to make sure no child has been left behind. This will soon become a habit. We call this the “Look Before You Lock” campaign.
- Keep a large stuffed animal in the child's car seat when it’s not occupied. When the child is placed in the seat, put the stuffed animal in the front passenger seat. It's a visual reminder that anytime the stuffed animal is up front you know the child is in the back seat in a child safety seat.
- Make arrangements with your child’s day care center or babysitter that you will always call if your child will not be there on a particular day as scheduled.
- Keep vehicles locked at all times; even in the garage or driveway and always set your parking brake.
- Keys and/or remote openers should never be left within reach of children.
- Make sure all child passengers have left the vehicle after it is parked.
- When a child is missing, check vehicles and car trunks immediately.
- If you see a child alone in a vehicle, get involved. If they are hot or seem sick, get them out as quickly as possible. Call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.
- Be especially careful about keeping children safe in and around cars during busy times, schedule changes and periods of crisis or holidays.
- Use drive-thru services when available.
- Use your debit or credit card to pay for gas at the pump.
A recent study published in the Canadian Journal of Traffic Injury Prevention studied injury data over a 10 year period from 1994-2003. Back over collisions involving children under the age of 14 were identified and classified.
There were 4,295 child pedestrian motor vehicle collisions reported to the Canadian Hospital Injury Reporting and Prevention Program during the study. 148 (3.4%) of the children were injured in back over collisions with 49 (33.1%) of the children involving a car backing out of a driveway.
The study found that children involved in back over collisions tended to be significantly younger then in rollover or other collisions.
The authors concluded that although back over collisions represented only a small portion of pedestrian car collisions, they tended to involve more serious injuries requiring hospital admission.
For more information you can read Blind Spots a Big Danger for Young Children: Child Injury Prevention
Airbags
Every new car sold in Canada and the rest of North America is equipped with air bags as standard equipment. Air bags are an important safety feature. But it is equally important that parents not underestimate the dangers air bags pose for children.
In a car crash, airbags shoot from the dashboard with enough force to stop a full grown adult from hitting the dashboard.
The same that is designed to protect an adult from injury is enough to seriously injure or kill a child.
Child Car and Booster Seats: New Study Shows Parents Need Further Education
Good News
A recent survey released by Transport Canada shows an increase in the number of parents who are using child car seats and booster seats. That's the good news.
Bad News
However, the bad news is that the survey also indicated that some parents and care givers are still not using car seats or child restraints correctly, or in some cases not using them at all!
Survey Says...
The 2010 Canadian National Survey on child restraint use was conducted to determine whether parents and care givers were properly using child seats and seat belts when traveling in motor vehicles.
As part of the study researchers observed a total of 7,307 vehicles with 9,772 child passengers across Canada. The researchers found that 95.8% of child passengers were restrained. The survey also found the 91.5% of the population
was using some type of child restraint in a moving vehicle.
Almost Half of Children Not Properly Restrained
However, researchers estimate that child safety seats were used correctly only 64% of the time. 46 children out of 100 are not properly restrained when driving in cars.
In other words, almost half of all children travlling in cars are exposed to needless dangers and risks because they are not properly restarined in a car seat or booster seat.
Halifax Regional School Board to Comply With Legislation to Make Children Safer on School Buses
Starting in January 2012 the Halifax Regional School Board will comply with Provincial regulations requiring children under age nine or smaller than 4’9” and 40 pounds to be secured in a child restraint system while riding on school buses.
According to Doug Hadley, spokesman for the Halifax Regional School Board, they are going to start weighing and measuring students who may fall under the provincial regulations.
The Seat Belt and Child Restraint System Regulations have been in place in Nova Scotia since 2007 and have been implemented in most school boards around the province. However, the Halifax Regional School Board uses a private contractor, Stock Transportation to run their school buses and HRSB has been late to introduce the changes.
Kids and Cars Canada is pleased to see that the Halifax Regional School Board is finally making changes to comply with provincial legislation which will help improve the safety of our children.
Want to Help?
You can contact us to find out how you can volunteer to bring this important safety message to Canada.
Media Coverage of Kidsandcars.org - Canada
John McKiggan's Interview with Scott Kitching
98.1 Free FM | Blackburn Radio (London)
John McKiggan interviewed by 570 News about the dangers of children being left in cars.
More Information
Child Safety: Sunny Days and Kids in Cars
Children Should Stay in Rear Facing Seats Longer: Child Safety Experts
Car Seat Recall a Reminder to Parents About Possible Dangers to Children
Embrace Life!
Teenagers with ADHD at Higher Risk of Car Accidents
Media Contact Information
John McKiggan
Chair: Kidsandcars.org - Canada
john@apmlaw.ca
Office: 902-423-2050
Fax: 902-423-6707
Personal Injury
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