Sledding Can Be Dangerous

One of the trickiest things about being a parent is knowing the line between being safe and being overprotective. We make our kids wear helmets when they ride their scooters or bicycles, but we’ve never put helmets on them when they go sledding. To me, that always seemed overly cautious. Kids get in accidents, right?

I certainly don’t want them to live in fear of potentially getting injured. But I’m starting to think that when it comes to sledding, it may be better to be safe than sorry. I’d never forgive myself if my kids were brain damaged or worse and I knew I could have done something to prevent it.

When analyzing the statistics regarding emergency room injuries from 1997-2007, researchers found that 230,000 of the were sledding-related, according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics in September.

The majority of the children were 10-14 years old and researchers found that boys were 10% more likely to be injured while sledding than girls.

The most frequent injuries were fractures, as well as head injuries. More than 9% of the kids suffered traumatic brain injuries. are now pushing for safer sledding practices, including wearing a helmet. Kids wear a helmet while skiing. Why not while sledding? Continue reading »

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USA Today reports that at least 41 children have died so far this year in hot cars.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering petitioning automakers to include safety belt reminder chimes for all seating positions.  Kids and Cars President Janette Fennell thinks that “these same chimes that sense if people aren’t buckled in should also warn if children are still buckled in cars after they’re locked.”  The Consumer Federation of America and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety agree.

While a chime might help in the case of distracted parents accidentally forgetting their child is in the back seat, what about parents who innocently leave their children in the car on purpose while they run into a store?  It turns out, only 18% of hot car deaths from 1998-2009 were caused by parents who intentionally left their children in the car.  30% were the result of children playing in unattended vehicles (in which case the chime would be ineffective in preventing death) and 51% of the deaths involved children forgotten in cars. Continue reading »

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