We make a commitment to keep our children safe in our cars. When they are small, we go to great expense to buy the best car seats we can and spend a lot of time buckling/unbuckling them in and out.  But what about when they are older?  And, what about buckling ourselves in?

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month. Brain injuries don’t just affect those who are injured; they affect everyone around them. If you are a parent and suffer a traumatic brain injury, your children’s lives will be forever altered along with yours. If you are a parent of a teenager who drives, your life will never be the same if she suffers a traumatic brain injury.  One way to take care of your family is to be sure seatbelts are used every time anyone gets into a car.

My friend Larry Buckfire, a car accident lawyer in Michigan, posted a short video, Embrace Life, on his website. It is less than two minutes long. There are no words. I suggest you watch it.  It is powerful.

If you have a teen driver in your home, show it to her. Watch it with her. It could speak more loudly than your words ever could.

Here is a link to resources and education information from the Mayo Clinic on traumatic brain injury in children to help parents and teachers help the child.

The Virginia Senate passed a bill last week that would ban talking on a cell phone while driving unless the driver was using a hands-free device.

This isn’t the first time such a bill has come before the Virginia General Assembly, so its chances of passing are slim. However, I previously posted about the no-texting-while-driving law passed by the General Assembly that went into effect in July 2009, so maybe there’s a better chance at passage this year or next or the year after that or . . .

Driving while distracted is particularly dangerous when an inexperienced driver is behind the wheel, especially when that inexperienced driver is a teenager who is hard wired to believe she is bullet proof and that nothing can hurt her. The bill that goes to the Virginia House of Delegates won’t solve all the problems of distracted drivers, but it will be one more tool that might have an impact on keeping our teens safe.

Or, will it encourage talking on cell phones while driving — a distraction even if both hands are on the wheel.

From working in Barnes and Noble I have learned about Code Adam, the process of locating a missing child in a retail establishment or a public place.  We train regularly in executing the procedure, just in case.  We did it every night for a month before the Harry Potter release party back in 2007.  However, I had never actually done one until last weekend.

Last weekend we had a parent come up to us saying that she couldn’t find her two little girls.  I was the one who received the information and had to make the overhead page…”Attention Barnes & Nobles customers, we have a Code Adam, etc…”.  We found the girls very quickly, but still I was shaken for hours afterwards.

I wrote the article explaining what Code Adam is and why it exists for you to share with parents.  I was very impressed by the customers in the store that day because everyone froze and was silent while we looked for the girls.  I think it’s helpful for parents to know that this procedure exists.

Stephanie wrote an article with more information about CODE ADAM that I posted on my firm’s website.  Here is a link to the article she wrote. Thanks, Stephanie, for helping to spread the word.

A short video ad encouraging internet safety for the internet’s youngest users has just been released by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.  The ad is aimed at children in this age group and is meant to teach them what information is private and that they are not to share this with unknown individuals.

One short video ad can’t do it all; you must be involved. Here are some accompanying activities for you to complete with your child.

This publicity push is in honor of Europe’s Safer Internet Day on February 9, 2010.  This year’s Safer Internet Day theme is “Think Before You Post.”  Not just today, but regularly and often, talk to your children openly about making safe choices on the internet.

However, some apps have devious purposes.  Growing numbers of apps provide Caller ID Spoofing. We rely on caller ID and don’t question that the person on the phone is the name that appears on the screen.  However, spoofing apps allow the user to choose any number they want to appear on caller ID instead of their own, to completely disguise their voice so as to remain unrecognizable, and one spoof app allows users to fake texts and emails. Our children are trusters, but they can no longer automatically believe what the caller ID tells them.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article (along with a 6-minute video) that featured SpoofCard, one of the most popular of the spoofing software versions, that told stories from users about how they use the device.  Even though the site details useful applications of the device in the section on legality, not one legal use is included as an actual example.  The examples from customers are all personal pranks or spying on “loved ones.”

Possibly the most dangerous use of this technology is that the spoofer is able to check another person’s voicemail without their knowledge.  Many cell phone carriers allow the user to check their voicemail without a password by calling their phone number from their own phone.  If a spoofed caller ID of your number calls your number, the spoofer is also connected directly to the voicemail box.  To keep this from happening to you, make sure you have use a password to access your voicemail.

Congress is moving forward in making this practice illegal.  The House passed the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2007, but it was never made into law.

The Federal Communication Commission has detailed its current view on caller ID and provides a number to call if you believe a caller ID has been falsified.

Find out all you can about caller ID spoofs. I know it may cause eye rolling by your children, but please talk to them about not assuming the caller whose ID they see on their phone may not be who they think it is. This spoof is no joke.

HEADACHES that keep coming back or other pain in and around the head (e.g., the eyes or jaw)

BALANCE or dizziness problems

SENSORY problems -bothered by smells or light or sounds or has blurry or double vision; changes in taste or appetite; feels too hot or too cold; hearing loss or ringing in ears

Changes in SLEEP patterns – doesn’t sleep through the night, sleeps too much, gets days and nights mixed up

PAIN problems – especially frequent pain in neck and shoulders or other places on the body that are unexplained

BEHAVIOR changes – in personality or mood; irritable, restless, upset, frustrated easily; overreacts, cries or laughs too easily; mood swings, wants to be alone or away from people, is afraid or others, blames others; wants to be taken care of, doesn’t know how to act with people, takes risks without thinking; is sad, depressed, can’t “get started” doing anything, is tired, drowsy or slow to respond; trips, falls, drops things, is awkward; eats too little, eats all the time, or eats thing that aren’t food; takes off clothes in public; for older children: has different sexual behavior, starts using or has a different reaction to alcohol or drugs

THINKING Problems – can’t remember things, has trouble paying attention, reacts slowly, thinks slowly, takes things too literally, doesn’t get jokes; understands words but not their meaning; thinks about the same thing over and over; has trouble learning new things, putting things in order (desk, room, papers), making decisions; planning, starting, doing and finishing a task and emembering to do things on time; makes poor choices (loss of common sense)

COMMUNICATING- changes the subject, has trouble staying on topic; has trouble reading, listening, thinking of the right word, paying attention and having long conversations; doesn’t say things clearly, talks too much

If your child exhibits any of these problems AND THEY DO NOT GO AWAY, call your doctor.

The Washington State Traumatic Brain Injury Council has more information on what to look out for and what to do if your child has suffered a brain injury.

If your child has hurt her head and has any of these problems that do not go away, you may want to speak to a lawyer experienced in representing children with traumatic brain injuries. I will be glad to answer your questions about rights your child may have to recover for her losses from her brain injury caused by someone else. Call me at 703-273-9500, or send me an email at srohrstaff@WRSattorneys.com.

Here’s a video explaining how to move from one car seat to another as your child “ages up” made by “Dad Labs”.

Other resources:

Car Safety Seats Information for Families

How to Choose and Use A Booster Seat

Forward-facing models should all have a 5-point restraint harness.  Children should stay in this model until at least 40 pounds, but can usually fit until 65 pounds.  These are especially helpful if you have a restless child who might try to get out of the seat belt.

When you think your child might be ready to move to a booster seat, be sure to test it out first.  If they fit, their legs should not stick out straight and they should not slouch or slide forward in the seat.  Once again, keep you child in the forward-facing car seat for as long as possible — it’s safer.
Booster seats are the newest addition to child car safety.  Most likely you didn’t use a booster seat when you were a kid.  Seat belts are designed for adults, not for children, so children need to be boosted into a higher position so that the seat belt can do its job correctly.   

Children need to be in a booster seat until they reach a height of 4’9”.  At this height, the seat belt will fall correctly on the child as to protect them in a crash.  Once again, there are multiple types of booster seats.  There are full backed seats that resemble a forward facing seat and there are half booster seats which only have a bottom portion.  In deciding which one to purchase for your child, you should consider factors such as support while sleeping in the car and the height of the seats in your car.  The booster should position the child so that the seat belt falls on the hips, not the stomach, and the collarbone, not the neck.  Once they reach 4’9”, the belt should fit properly without any additional support.  Even once they no longer need a booster seat, children though should stay in the back seat until they reach 13 years old.

Post a comment to let us know how your child has grown into her various types of car seats.

Vanilla Extract – I often heard that a person could get drunk by drinking vanilla extract. I’ve wondered if that’s true.  The answer seems to be “yes”. For children, that’s a real danger. Vanilla extract contains ethanol, the same type of alcohol found in beer, wine, and hard liquor (and other types of flavoring extract, perfume, cologne, aftershave, and mouthwash, too). The amount of extract called for in recipes would not be dangerous. But a child who swallowed the contents of a bottle might be at risk of alcohol poisoning. Keep flavoring extracts out of reach, along with other alcohol-containing liquids.

But, there are more dangers lurking.  Nutmeg tastes great in cookies and eggnog, but too much can cause hallucinations. Children who get into the container, and people who deliberately swallow a lot of nutmeg trying to get high, can become miserably sick. Nausea, vomiting, agitation, prolonged drowsiness, and coma are all possible. Keep the nutmeg, and its relative, mace, out of the reach of children.