Summer is the Most Dangerous Time for Kids Playing In and Around Cars

According to the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety (ACTS), summer is the most dangerous time of the year for children playing in and around cars. This is because the children are out of school and most likely outside with little or no supervision. Each year hundreds of children suffer injuries or death from vehicles backing out of driveways, being trapped in hot vehicles or in car trunks, being strangled by power windows, or in vehicles inadvertently put in motion by children moving the shift lever.

ACTS has compiled the results of a survey done on over 900 parents with children 12 years and under about parenting behavior and supervision of their children in and around cars. Here are some of the results.

- On average, parents normally hold a child's hand in a parking lot until the child is at least 7 1/2 years old.
- Most parents require their children to be in a safety seat or booster seat until age 6 1/2.
- 9 out of 10 parents say they have never left a child under 5 alone in a car.
- Two thirds of parents thought it unlikely or very unlikely that a child in their neighborhood might die from the heat after being left alone in a car.
- Less than half (46%) thought it was likely that a child in their neighborhood might be hit by a car backing out of a driveway.
- 44% of parents surveyed have known someone whose child was hit by a car.

To read the full survey results and to visit the new and improved ACTS site, click here