NHTSA & Chuggington Team up to teach Children how to be Safe in and around Cars
By: Diana Duel
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)has teamed up with the popular animated tv series Chuggington to teach children how to be safe in and around cars. The nationwide traffic safety campaign is geared specifically towards children from the ages of 2 to 7 and includes a public service announcement featuring characters from the show, a kid-focused safety pledge and downloadable tips and activities for parents and caregivers to use with children.
“This exciting partnership with Chuggington will help us bring our traffic safety message to young children and parents alike,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Educating children at an early age bout the importance of wearing bicycle helmets, looking both ways when crossing the street and buckling up leads to a lifetime of good traffic safety habits.”
Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for children, with 1,314 fatalities and 179,000 injuries to those 14 and younger in 2009. In 2007, an estimated 262 fatalities and 115,000 injuries to children 14 and younger occurred from pedestrian incidents involving children playing in or around motor vehicles.
The new partnership combines NHTSA’s safety guidelines for pedestrians, school buses, bikes and car seat use with Chuggington’s characters to reach parents and children.
“Chuggington’s characters learn important life lessons in every episode of the show and often earn badges as rewards for appropriate behavior,” said Dick Rothkopf, chairman of Ludorum, the creators of the show. “The ‘Think Safe, Ride Safe, Be Safe!’ traffic safety pledge and badge is based on this concept. We hope that children will be excited to learn the rules of the road while they interact with Chuggington’s characters and earn their ‘official’ Chuggington Traffic Safety badges.”
Parents and educators can access the Chuggington kids pledge and online tools by going to www.chuggington.com/safety.
Selling Your Vehicle
By: Diana Duel
While there may be several advantages to trading in your old car when buying vehicle from a dealer, such as reducing the purchase price, and saving your self the hassle of selling the car yourself, anyone planning to do this should be sure not to bring up the fact to the dealer until you have negotiated the price for the new one.
On the other hand, a private sale will allow you to get more money for your used vehicle than a dealer would pay. A dealer will never give you the Blue Book value since he, in turn, would be looking to make his own profit on the resale of your old car. To find out just what the fair market price would be, you can look it up at your local library, or simply check it out online.
Advertising your car can be done in the classified section of any newspaper. Online sites such as Craigs List are also available, though you should be sure not to give too much personal information, such as your home address or phone number in the listing until you are sure that the potential customer is a legitimate one. Craigs List will allow you to list the car and have interested parties respond to it through their site. Buyers should let you call them first. Then, if you feel okay you can let them know where to come and see it.
Do not let strangers test-drive it alone. However, if you decide to let them, hold onto their drivers license or ask them to give you the keys to their car to hold until they come back as a safety precaution. If you do not have license plates on the car you are selling, tell the buyer in advance. Cars without plates cannot be driven on the street.
You will also need to find out how the buyer intends to pay for the car you are selling. Insist they give you cash or a certified check before they take possession of the vehicle. Remember, personal checks can bounce or even be stopped
Buckle Up Your Pup
Diana Duel
According to a survey conducted by AAA, more than half of dog owners questioned admitted to “petting their dogs while driving,” while 21 percent said they often allow their dogs to sit in their laps! The majority of those surveyed admitted that although they themselves “buckle up,” they almost never use any kind of restraint to protect their dogs in case of an accident.
This, however, can pose a lot of danger; not only to the animal, but for everyone else in the car. An unrestrained dog can become a projectile. Even when weighing just ten pounds, warns Jennifer Huebner, manager of the AAA National Traffic Safety Programs, a dog will exert roughly 500 pounds of pressure in a crash at 50 mph. Furthermore, a dog weighing 80 pounds when involved in a crash at only 30 mph, will exert 2,400 pounds of pressure.
Additionally, dog seatbelts can help avoid accidents by preventing a frightened or even angry dog from jumping in the front seat when it becomes excited by something it sees outside the vehicle. Such sudden actions by a dog may unintentionally interfere with the driver while the car is in motion.
Huebner also states that front seats are “particularly deadly for dogs,” regardless of whether they are restrained or not. This is because airbags when inflating can be explosive during a crash, harming a dog more than the actual impact itself.
Be forewarned: Invest in dog seatbelts. Or, at least restrain your dog inside a crate that is tethered to the car. You will be glad you did should an accident occur.
Better to be safe than sorry.
