Car Accident Safety Tips For Pregnant Women

What should pregnant women know about car safety while carrying a child, and what can they do to minimize the chances of a car accident that harms their fetus?

This week we covered the tragic story of a 24-year-old Dallas woman who gave birth to a stillborn baby after her can was rear-ended by a distracted driver. Unfortunately, while exact statistics are unknown, hundreds of miscarriages and stillbirths take place each year across the country because of car accidents.

• Wear your seatbelt – and wear it correctly. It’s true that seatbelts can be uncomfortable to wear when you are pregnant, but that seatbelt can save both your life and the life of your unborn child. Wearing your seatbelt incorrectly – such as not putting the shoulder strap diagonally across your chest – can be just as bad as not wearing your seatbelt altogether.
• Don’t sit too close to an air bag. While little research has been done on the subject, safety experts say that sitting in a seat with an airbag is not dangerous to the fetus if you are pregnant. However, airbags can be a threat to your unborn child if you sit too close to the airbag or if you do not wear a seatbelt in a seat with an airbag.
• Move your steering wheel back. Many of the fetus deaths that take place during car accidents happen when the mother’s belly slams against the steering wheel or steering wheel shaft during a crash. To minimize this risk, position your steering wheel so that there is more room between your abdomen and the steering wheel – and when possible, let someone else take the driver’s seat.

Have you been injured in a Texas car accident while pregnant, or lost a pregnancy because of car accident injuries? Did the accident take place because of the negligence of another driver? Talk to a Dallas car accident injury attorney today by calling us at (214) 651-6100.