When traveling by car it is essential for those who have children on board to think exclusively about their safety and how to transport them, especially in winter.
Children in cars the law and its numbers
There are five groups into which weights, heights and devices for the correct transport of children in cars are divided:
- group 0(up to about 12 months for a weight of 10 kilograms): children must be held transversely on the back seat, secured with the belt and possibly with an adult at their side;
- group 0+(up to about 24 months for a weight of 13 kilograms): children must use the special child seat on the rear seat and facing the direction of travel if possible always with an adult at their side;
- group 1(from 9 to 18 kilograms up to four years): sitting on the rear seat facing forward;
- group 2(from 15 to 25 kilograms up to about six years): with the seat approved for their group facing forward and on the rear or front seat;
- group 3(from 22 to 36 kilograms up to 12 years): with the seat or the booster seat on the rear or front seat facing in the direction of travel.
The riser should be used up to a height of one and a half meters to prevent the belt from causing damage to the throat. However, I recommend that you always use the rear center seat whenever possible to avoid any dangers in the event of a side impact.
Car safety has no season
When traveling, safety is important, especially when it comes to children who are the most defenseless in the event of a collision. There is no vacation time when traveling, attention must always be paid to placing the little passenger in conditions of complete safety and security. You do not have to listen to the tantrums he may possibly do to avoid being tied up or, worse, being held while driving. Moreover, the new generation cars have a system for fixing the seats firmly hooked to the car body making it a single body. I remind you that for group 0 there are two further fixings, a hook behind the backrest and a sort of pedestal to be placed underneath to avoid the catapult effect.
Travel safely in winter
In addition to the normal procedures to follow to avoid fines or other measures, you need to have some precautions to face your travels in a safe and comfortable way for your little ones. First of all, it is better to avoid overdoing the heating, too hot generates restlessness and sudden changes in temperature help viruses to hit. Returning to safety, as already written, it is better to use the central rear seat. In winter, when the roads are often wet, or worse frozen, skids are more likely and, in the case of poles or other intrusion into the passenger compartment, including collisions with cars, the little one has more space around him and therefore less chance of get involved.
It is important that the belts and restraint systems fit snugly against the body and are neither too loose nor too oppressive. So opt for onion-shaped clothing so that you can take off the jackets that are quite bulky at this time. If the seat is very cold, warm it first with a hot water bottle, removing it when you put the baby in and use a simple device that allows you to secure the baby without letting him get cold. Just take off the jacket, fasten the belts to the baby and put it inside out as if you were fastening it on the back. In this way it will be easy to remove without having to remove the baby from the seat
