child safety

Last Friday, Governor Brown vetoed SB 1151, a bill that would have increased traffic fines in school zones and used these funds for active transportation investments. The bill had unanimous, bipartisan support in both houses and all legislative committees and was a strong priority for Safe Routes to Schools advocacy groups. This veto is extremely…

Committing insurance fraud is already bad enough, but when you endanger your children in the process it reaches a whole new level of scuminess. For mother of five, Ana Ovando, the exceptionally poor decision to stage three different collisions in one year was compounded by her even worse decision to bring her kids along for…

Summer vacation is coming to an end and the back to school blitz is officially here. With kids getting set to resume their daily commute, and some younger children getting ready to start school for the first time, now is the perfect opportunity to review some key safety tips for children and motorists alike. A…

Following a school bus accident in which a young child was killed in Indianapolis, people alarmed by the incident took to CNN’s website to renew the debate on whether or not school buses should have seat belts. The accident, which occurred on Monday morning, took place just before 8:00 am when a school bus hit…

There’s no question about it: when it comes to reducing car accidents, pedestrian accidents, or bicycle accidents, states and local governments have been proposing the most interesting plans to save lives and prevent injuries. But so far, when the federal government gets involved, safety measures that often look like “no-brainers” on the local level get muddled by political ideology and Washington groupthink. This has already been the case for a federal distracted driving law and a federal teen drivers license law currently languishing in Congress. The next safety policy to be doomed by Washington policy is the Safe Routes to School program.

The discussion of what car to buy a new teenage driver is always touchy. Teens want something that looks cool and isn’t too slow, while parents want something affordable that won’t tempt dangerous driving behavior. But above all, parents hope to buy their teenager a car that is as safe as anything else on the road. Last month, Consumer Reports highlighted 8 of the safest cars for teens that wouldn’t break the bank. This week, the Wall Street Journal released its list of safest vehicles for teen drivers. Take a look, and share your teen driver stories in the comments or on our Facebook page.

One of the country’s foremost child safety organizations announced this week that it has changed its tune when it comes to child car seats. Previously, the American Academy of Pediatrics deemed it safe to switch toddlers from rear-facing to forward-facing car seats at the age of 1, but the new policy suggests that toddlers should remain in the rear-facing seats until their second birthday. The policy statement added that toddlers in rear-facing seats are 75 percent less likely to be killed or injured in a major car accident.