keep lime or any citric type fruit
Whether you're on your way to soccer practice, your aunt's house, or the science center for a school field trip, you're probably getting there by riding in a car or a school bus. Most kids spend some time in a car or a school bus every day.
Cars and buses can be great because they're faster than biking, walking, or skateboarding. You'd be pretty late to practice if you didn't get a ride, and it would be hard to get to that soccer game in the next town without a school bus!
But riding in cars or school buses comes with some responsibility: You need to ride safely. Luckily, it's not hard to do. Keep reading and you'll learn the rules of car and bus safety.
Seat Belt Basics
Whenever you ride in a car, wear your seat belt every time. No matter how short the trip is — even if it's only around the corner — you still need to buckle up. This is so important because if the car you're riding in gets into an accident, the seat belt restrains you. (Restrain is a fancy word for holding you back.) Even if the car is moving slowly, you can still get thrown around if you're not wearing your seat belt.
When you get into a car, always buckle up right away. This means locking both the lap and shoulder belts. Some cars have a shoulder belt that comes across your body by itself when the car door shuts, but the lap belt still needs to be locked in place by hand. Other cars have a lap and shoulder belt that are connected as one piece, and the whole thing needs to be locked by hand.
Older cars might have two separate belts or no shoulder belt, but just a lap belt. Whichever kind of seat belt you come across, the directions are the same: Buckle every belt.
If you're wearing a seat belt correctly:
the lap (lower) part of the belt should be sitting low and tight across the upper part of your hips. It should never go across the upper half of your belly.
the shoulder part of the seat belt should fit snugly across your chest and shoulder, not under your arm or across your neck or face.
Sometimes seat belts need to be adjusted to fit a kid correctly, so ask an adult to make sure your seat belt fits right.
Riding in a friend's or relative's car is no excuse to skip the seat belt. Even if your friend or friend's parents don't wear seat belts, always wear yours. And don't ever share a seat belt with a friend — it might look like fun to buckle up as a pair, but you could both get hurt in an accident.
Booster Seats
If you're a kid 8 years or under, you also need a booster seat. Booster seats help you sit up high enough so the shoulder part of seat belt fits properly across your chest.
Any kid who weighs between 40 pounds (18.1 kilograms) and 80 pounds (36.3 kilograms) should be in a booster seat. Kids should continue using the booster seat until they are 4 feet, 9 inches tall (1.4 meters) and weigh at least 80 pounds (36.3 kilograms). Once kids reach that height and weight, they can safely ride in a car with just the seat belt. So check with your parent to make sure you're big enough to ride safely without a booster!
Get in the Back
Here's another important safety rule: sit in the back seat. Kids 12 years old and under need to be sitting in the back. Period. It's simply the safest place to be. If the car you're riding in gets into an accident, you have much less chance of hitting something hard like the windshield if you're in the back.
If you're in the back seat with friends or brothers and sisters, everyone needs to keep their seat belts on and not horse around. It can be hard for the driver to concentrate on driving and see what's going on outside the car if you're jumping around back there. Short story: It can be dangerous and everyone could get hurt.
What About Air Bags?
You might know a little bit about air bags because many car commercials on TV talk about them. If a car wit
Answered by
yoga sharma
, an ibibo Citizen,
at
1:11 PM on April 07, 2008