# How safe is your car?



## Jen T. (Sep 8, 2015)

Have you ever had a close call on the road when you were distracted by your crying baby, or arguing kids, or by your cell phone? Well I'd like to hear about it!

I am a master student in Sweden, researching cultural aspects of driving and cars for parents with a focus on safety issues for families. I am a parent myself to a young one, and originally from San Francisco CA where I had an insane 1-1.5 hour commute which included dropping off my then infant at my parents for babysitting. And so I have a great interest in how other parents "think and do" safety in the car.

I'd love to hear how you chose your family car? How do you "know" the car is safe? What are stresses you out in the car? Do you use technology to improve safety? What do you think self-driving can offer in safety? What else do you do to make yourself and/or your family safe? Anecdotes are most welcome. I hope this can be a useful discussion for all parents as well!

Thank you! Jen


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## Turquesa (May 30, 2007)

We came up with a code word that means, "It is urgent that you be completely quiet right now so that we don't get in an accident." Then there's a code word that I say to the kids to indicate that it's OK to start talking again.

Our current system works a lot better than begging and screaming at the children: "EVERYBODY BE QUIET OR MOMMY'S GOING TO GET IN A WRECK!!!!" For one thing, kids know nothing about driving and cannot be expected to know when to be quiet and when it's OK to talk. They don't understand that it's hard to merge into a lane in heavy traffic or to focus on where to turn when you're lost. So this new system has worked beautifully. They take me seriously when I say the code words.


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## Jen T. (Sep 8, 2015)

Turquesa said:


> We came up with a code word that means, "It is urgent that you be completely quiet right now so that we don't get in an accident." Then there's a code word that I say to the kids to indicate that it's OK to start talking again.
> 
> Our current system works a lot better than begging and screaming at the children: "EVERYBODY BE QUIET OR MOMMY'S GOING TO GET IN A WRECK!!!!" For one thing, kids know nothing about driving and cannot be expected to know when to be quiet and when it's OK to talk. They don't understand that it's hard to merge into a lane in heavy traffic or to focus on where to turn when you're lost. So this new system has worked beautifully. They take me seriously when I say the code words.


Thanks for the response Turquesa!


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