Parents must drive with their children in the car, at least for a portion of the time that they’re on the road. And, as any parent knows, this is not always going to go as smoothly as they may like.
When a child cries, many people turn to distraction to get them to stop. Rather than trying to “fix” the situation, they try to take the child’s mind off of it. After all, there may be no way to fix it. If the child is distressed about being in the car for so long and there is still an hour to go, parents can’t avoid that.
The issue is that many of the things parents do to distract children are also things that distract them from the road. These could include:
- Reaching back to hand out snacks and drinks
- Giving the child a toy
- Searching for music on the radio
- Singing a song that the child likes
- Looking in the mirror and engaging the child in conversation
- Reaching back to touch and console the child
- Turning around to ask them what is wrong
A parent’s brain forces them to react to the crying child and to try to comfort them, but does that really just put them in danger? What if the parent gets distracted, drifts over the centerline and causes a serious car accident? These things do happen, and children are often the root cause.
Have you been injured by a distracted parent who hit your car? If you have, you may need to seek compensation for your medical bills and related costs.