Miranda Bowman, 12, was going for a ride with her 63-year-old grandfather, when he told her he didn't feel well and asked her to continue talking to him because he was scared. Then he closed his eyes and he died -- with his foot on the accelerator. Bowman grabbed the wheel and drove the car to safety.
I can’t even imagine what was going through her mind.
This tragedy reminds me that even though we can't prevent something unexpected like this from happening to our children, maybe with a little planning, we can prepare our children for emergencies and teach them ways to get through these situations without too much damage. Teaching our kids to "take the wheel" in emergency situations just may save their lives.
Have you taught your children contingency plans in case of emergencies? This is probably a good idea for all parents to discuss with their children. Not that a child would normally be taught to drive a car at 12 years old just in case they needed to drive someone to the hospital or take the wheel, though maybe that’s not such a bad idea, now that I think about it. Maybe they should at least know the mechanics of driving; how the steering wheel, brake, and gas pedals work.
There are other situations that we hope never happen, but not teaching our kids how to react in the situation won’t keep them safe and could even harm them. For example, what if they were caught in a fire? What if a stranger approached them and tried to kidnap or touch them? What if there were intruders in the house? Would your child know what to do? I have spoken to my children about stranger danger, tornadoes, and fires, but I may need to get some more plans into place and maybe rethink some things. I’d never thought of my mother’s heart condition as a possible threat because she is fine with medicine. This story gave me something to consider.
What emergency contingency plans do you have in place with your children?
Image via Maxim34374/Flickr
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Comments 16
As a child this was my most reoccuring nightmare, not that the driver had died but for some reason the driver left the moving car and I was left alone, what a brave little girl I'm glad she is okay.
Kuddos to that girl. She is a smart cookie. I think that parents who don't give their kids plans on what to do in cases of emergency are taking a huge risk. I learned CPR and First Aid at 10. I never had to use it (thank goodness) but it gave me confidence that if something like that were to happen, I would know what to do. Even though none of us can truly prepare for everything life will throw at us, having a couple tools at our disposal can, if nothing else, give us and our kids a little peace.