It’s Labor Day! One last hurrah of a holiday before autumn, and—the #1 holiday for the greatest number of injuries and trips to the ER—especially for children.
Follow these tips for a safe holiday weekend:
Biking
- More kids on bicycles over the last warm-weather holiday of the year plus more cars on the road equals a dangerous set-up for bicycle injuries.
- Keep your children safe by ALWAYS requiring that they wear helmets. As kids grow so quickly, it can be tough to make sure the helmet continues to fit well. Every summer, recheck the helmet fit and replace if needed. A poorly fitting helmet will not protect a child’s growing brain in case of an accident.
- If there’s any chance that kids will be riding bikes when it’s dusk or even late afternoon, make sure they wear bright-colored clothing and have appropriate lights and reflectors on their bikes.
- On the high-traffic days such as Labor Day, it’s safest to keep kids from biking on driving roads altogether.
Driving
- Labor Day is one of the highest traffic weekends of the year and one of the deadliest ones as well—the National Safety Council (NSC) estimates that there will be nearly 400 traffic-related fatalities, with 42,300 people seeking medical care for accidents.
- Buckle up: the NSC also estimates that 144 lives may be saved this weekend because people wore their seatbelts.
- Create a “distraction-free zone” with no cell phones or other technology to grab the driver’s attention when there are so many cars on the road.
- Allow plenty of extra travel time to account for traffic, weather — and decrease the impulse to speed.
- If your car develops a problem (e.g. a flat tire) — DO NOT just pull over on the side of a busy highway — many people are seen in the ER that were hit doing just this. Pull over in a rest area if you can, and if you must be on the side of the road, pull off the road entirely (into the grass, not just on the shoulder) and use flares.
DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!!!!
With a little precaution, you can have a safe and happy Labor Day. Here’s hoping for a great one for you and your family!