Top 10 Driving Mistakes: On May 27, 2003, the newly formed coalition "Drive for Life: The National Safe Driving Test & Initiative" cited the following as the 10 most common driving mistakes:

	1. Failing to pay attention -- "zoning out"
	2. Driving while drowsy
	3. Becoming distracted inside the car
	4. Failing to adjust to weather conditions
	5. Driving aggressively
	6. Making assumptions about other drivers' intentions
	7. Speeding
	8. Changing lanes without checking blind spots and mirrors
	9. Driving while upset
	10. Ignoring essential auto maintenance

For more on the initiative, or to take the Safe Driving Test, visit the Web site at http://www.safedrivingtest.com.

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Why everyone needs to be properly restrained: Some states require only that babies be buckled in. Others require only that front-seat passengers be buckled in. Research, however, indicates that all passengers need to be buckled in -- to save themselves AND the other people in the vehicle. In 2002, the University of Tokyo found that front-seat passengers who were buckled in were 5 times more likely to die if back-seat passengers were not properly restrained. In an accident, unrestrained passengers in the back often became human missiles, hurtling into the front seat and colliding with passengers there. The Tokyo study estimated that 80 percent of the deaths of restrained front-seat passengers could have been avoided if back-seat passengers had also been restrained. Other research shows that the converse also is true. In a crash, front-seat passengers can be thrown into the back seat, harming or killing properly restrained passengers in the back.

Save your family members the trauma of accidentally killing each other -- please buckle everyone in.

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AAP Recommends Against Lap Travel on Airplanes: The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a new recommendation against lap travel on airplanes. Current airplane regulations allow for lap travel for children younger than 2 years old. The AAP also is recommending improving systems of child restraint on airplanes, increased education for airline personnel on the need for child restraint, increasing availability of safety seats on airlines and offering financial incentives to parents for restraining their children.

Did you Know? Experts say that anywhere from 80 to 95 percent of safety seats are improperly installed and/or improperly used! If you haven’t had a safety seat checkup lately, your child probably isn’t buckled in properly!

We at Safer Child know from personal experience that car safety seats can be a pain in the rear. But they are - without doubt - lifesavers. The hassle is worth it. In 1997, 6,040 children reportedly died from unintentional injury -- and motor vehicle crashes topped the list, ahead of drownings, pedestrian accidents, fire deaths, chokings or firearms deaths. For information on car safety seats, please see our Car Seat FAQs page.

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Don't EVER leave your children alone in the car -- not even for a moment. Besides the danger of abduction, the temperature in a car can skyrocket in minutes. Children die every year from suffering heat stroke in hot cars -- even with windows wide open -- and it's a particularly nasty way to die.

Also, teach your children how to escape from a vehicle if they accidentally get locked inside. Keep all rear fold-down seats closed to prevent children from getting into the trunk, and consider getting your vehicle fitted with an internal truck-release mechanism -- just in case.

Children also have been known to turn on ignitions, accidentally put a vehicle into neutral or into gear. The consequence has been fatal -- to the children and to innocent passersby.

Some children have left vehicles by themselves and died after getting lost in the heat, the woods, or the snow. The parents believed the children were not capable of opening the vehicle doors, but somehow, the children managed to do it.

Another danger comes from power windows. Children have died from suffocation when a power window rolls up and traps their head or neck. Some windows are supposed to stop when they bump up against an object, but this doesn't always happen. Please don't count on it.

Never EVER leave your child unattended in any vehicle. Never. Sleeping children wake up and wonder where you are. Quiet children get restless and look for something to do. It might seem like a nuisance to take your children with you, but please always do it. It could save their lives and the lives of others.

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Never move the vehicle if the child is not buckled up in the car seat. Not even for a moment. Not even if the child is crying. Your arms are NOT strong enough to hold or protect the child in the event of even a minor accident (even if you're a guy who can bench press 350 lbs!). Always stop the vehicle, comfort the child, then return the child to the car seat before putting the car back in gear. Even fender benders can kill an unrestrained child. Can't afford a car seat? See Safer Child Car Safety Seat FAQs for more information on car safety seats, including ways to possibly offset your cost or even get a seat free.

Don't allow passengers to lay their seat back so they can sleep. When the passenger seat is leaned back, the seat belt is sitting way above the body. In the event of an accident, the passenger can slide around in the seat and be thrown against the side of the car or hurled against the seat belt and then back down hard enough to sustain physical injury. People have died this way. Please insist that all passengers sit properly in their upright seats with the seat belts secured. If someone is too tired, consider stopping so everyone can rest.

Additionally, do not allow passengers to curl up along the back seat, or to sleep unsecured in the cargo area of a larger vehicle. In the event of an accident, even a minor one, these passengers are loose missiles in the car. Even a minor accident might kill them.

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Don't drive your vehicle while distracted, or while under the influence of drugs or alcohol: Some studies suggest that one in four accidents reportedly involve some form of driver distraction. So don't drink and then drive. Don't do drugs and then drive. Don't drive when you're sleepy or tired of driving. Don't put on makeup, read, peruse a map, or look through the glove box. Don't use your vehicle to vent frustration -- or to make up for time you've lost somewhere.

And please don't drive while using your cell phone or other communication technology (phone, fax, E-mail, route guidance, infrared display, multimedia entertainment systems, Internet browser). A 1997 study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported that drivers who were operating a cell phone were four times more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers who were not operating a cell phone. In April, 2001, supermodel Niki Taylor suffered severe liver damage from a crash that reportedly occurred when the driver looked down to answer a cell phone. In June 2001, New York became the first state to ban the use of cell phones while driving.

Remember: There are children in the cars around you. Think of them before you attempt to do anything other than just drive.

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Don't drive your vehicle while angry: Please don't use your vehicle to vent. No one owns the road. No one's life is more important than anyone else's. Everyone makes mistakes, and the old guy with a hat who just cut you off might be feeling badly about it (it's hard to communicate an apology in a car). Pretty sure you're a good driver? Ask your friends and family how they think you drive. You might be surprised at what they tell you.

Learn to drive defensively, to forgive all the lousy drivers on the road, and to obey the law. Remember, little eyes and ears on are you, watching how you drive and absorbing everything you do. If you get angry, stop your vehicle, get out and vent your fury in a manner that doesn't harm anyone else. Keep it in your mind -- paste it to your dashboard if you think it will help -- that little children in other vehicles depend on you to help keep them safe. And if you can't control your rage while driving, look into counseling and/or taking a course in stress/anger management.

In July 1997, David K. Willis, President and Chief Executive Officer of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, spoke on "Research on the Problem of Aggressive Driving" before members of the U.S. House of Representatives. This testimony, in PDF format, contains excellent information and suggestions for safer driving. (Note: In order to view any PDF file, you will need software called Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have it, you can download it for free here).

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Do not try to save gasoline money by driving close to big trucks. For one thing, this practice won't save you that much, and for another, it's a very dangerous sport that just asks to make you and your children the meat in a semi-truck sandwich. If you crash while tailgating, changes are very good that you and your family will die. Instead, save money on gas by keeping your vehicle in good mechanical shape with the tires properly inflated and aligned -- and also by driving at a consistent speed, at the speed limit, without peeling away from lights, on the highway instead of through the city, and with the air conditioner off whenever possible.

Don't leave your child in the car seat or carrier. Children have died or been injured by being left to sleep in a car seat or carrier after the parents arrived at their destination. The victims either fell out, became tangled in the straps or choked to death when their head fell forward and closed off their airway. Do not succumb to the temptation to leave your sleeping baby in the car seat -- even if you do bring the car seat into the house. Instead, put the baby to bed in a proper bassinet or crib -- even if it means having to rock the baby to sleep again.

Keep Your Vehicle in Good Working Order. Many accidents occur when cars run out of gas or break down on the highway, and other drivers run into the stopped car, into people standing on the highway or into each other. Keep your vehicle in good working order and with enough gas to get where you're going, and if you have to stop for any reason, pull as far off the road as you can and put your four-way flashers on.

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