As parents, advocacy is what we do. Even those of us who have never been the best at standing up for ourselves have to find our voices to fight for our children. And, while it shouldn’t be the case, fight we often do. 

Specifically, where our children’s health is concerned, many of us find ourselves having to lock horns to get results. This is often the case with medical care, but, as we’ll be looking at here, it also applies to daily life. Namely, parents have to advocate for things like road safety so that they can protect their children, not only now, but also when they start driving. 

As with anything, though, the right approach is key to seeing any change. Here, we’re going to look at practical ways that you can truly change the gears of road safety with lasting impact.

Practice safe driving at all times

In many ways, being the change we want to see on the roads starts at home. After all, your driving has the most impact on whether your kids are safe for every journey. By making sure to drive safely and sensibly every time you go out with young passengers, you stand the best chances at responsively being able to avoid accidents, even where other unsafe drivers are concerned. 

This isn’t a foolproof method, of course, and plenty of safe drivers have fallen foul in the past. But, this is definitely a step in the right direction. What’s more, as well as ensuring that you never pose a risk to anyone in your vehicle, your positive driving habits are guaranteed to pass to your kids for safer roads in the future.

Always report unsafe driving

It’s astounding how many of us beep our horns at unsafe drivers and assume we’ve done our bit. In reality, though, a driver who speeds, swerves, or generally throws out the rule book is unlikely to change their ways because you beeped at them.

As such, one of the best things that you can do to ensure safer roads moving forward is to report dangerous driving whenever you see it. This won’t always be possible, of course, but taking down number plates where you can and alerting your local authorities could result in the right actions being taken. That would mean one less dangerous driver on the road, and one less risk for your children to face each time you strap them into their car seats. 

Pay particular attention to commercial vehicles

Commercial vehicles, specifically trucks, are responsible for as many as 500,000 accidents a year, many of which involve fatalities due to the sheer size of the vehicles involved. This is especially worrying for parents considering that the length of a commercial vehicle often puts our kids in the backseat at particular risk. 

In reality, plenty of steps are already taken to ensure commercial vehicle safety, including laws surrounding the need for anyone intending to drive a vehicle weighing 26,001+ pounds to take a cdl combination test. Still, tragic accidents over the past few years have often happened either due to driver or company negligence. Specifically, trucks that aren’t fit for purpose are causing issues that often result in infant fatalities. The good news is that commercial vehicles should always hold a company number, and you shouldn’t hesitate to call it if you spot ill-kept vehicles or poor driving. Again, it may also be worth contacting local authorities to ensure that companies can’t continue to brush vehicle maintenance issues under the carpet. 

Don’t be afraid to contact our local government about road conditions

It’s also vital to note that road safety doesn’t solely come down to drivers themselves. Road conditions are also a contributing factor, as evidenced by the fact that a recent AAA survey found potholes to be behind injuries sustained by over 16 million drivers in the past five years alone.

By making accidents far more likely for even safe drivers, road conditions definitely shouldn’t fall under the safety radar. For parents, petitioning to local governments for maintenance and improvements is, thus, non-negotiable. This is especially the case seeing as residential roads around schools and other such supposedly child-friendly areas are often the worst affected. 

Conclusion

Unfortunately, there is no simple fix for guaranteed road safety, and this battle is likely one you’ll be fighting throughout your children’s lives. That said, small changes can make far more of a difference than you might realise, meaning that these precaution battles are more than worth braving.