As Families Gear Up for Summer Travel, JPMA Offers Tips to Keep Babies and Children Safe in RVs

For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Kelly Voelker, Director of Marketing & Communications
704.769.5537
kvoelker@jpma.org

MT. LAUREL, N.J. MAY 25, 2021 – The summer of 2020 was deemed the “Summer of the RV” as they were proclaimed the “Safest Way to Travel” for families looking for alternative options to airplanes and hotels. With continued uncertainty around COVID-19, RV’s are expected to once again be a top option for long-distance travel. According to RVshare’s Travel Trend Report, half of consumers surveyed said they plan on traveling domestically this summer with 40 percent indicating they’re unlikely to use air travel and 70 percent citing minimal interactions with other travelers as an important factor.

“RV travel is a great way for families to enjoy the outdoors and spend time together, but it also presents new challenges in keeping babies and children safe,” said Joe Colella, director of child passenger safety for the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), the voice of the industry on quality and safety for baby and children's products. “Parents and caregivers need to look at RV travel with 'fresh eyes' both while the RV is moving and also when they get to their destination.”

Car seats are primarily designed to protect children in passenger cars and multipurpose passenger vehicles, for example, but RVs are different. Rear seats in motor homes are excluded from rear lap-shoulder belt requirements and only must comply with seat belt standards for front seat passengers. That can make car seat installation and use challenging. Even when RV manufacturers voluntarily add safety features, the structure of the RV may cause varied performance of car seats in crashes.

When selecting an RV for family travel, it may be better to choose a towable RV so children can be restrained properly in the passenger vehicle pulling the recreational unit. If using a motorhome, another option is to have an adult drive a second car in which children can be properly restrained. To weigh your options, JPMA recommends contacting both the car seat and RV manufacturers for complete information and safety considerations.

Once families arrive at their destinations or stop for the night they should take the same sleep safety and child-proofing precautions they would at home: https://www.jpma.org/page/parents_crib_safety

Following are important child passenger safety, sleep safety and child-proofing tips for on the go families to keep in mind during summer travel:

• Properly buckle your child in a car seat correctly installed on a vehicle seat that faces front and has a crash-tested seat belt. Check with both manufacturers for car seat safety recommendations.
• If you were planning to tow a car behind your RV, consider driving it instead. Cars are required to include systems that allow children to travel properly buckled in their car seats.
• Once the RV is parked, look around to make sure cabinet locks and latches are still secure and haven’t come undone during travel.
• Similar to when you’re at home, don’t let baby sleep in your bed. Instead, set up a JPMA Certified sleep product like a mini-crib or portable play yard.
• Just as you would childproof your home, do the same in your RV, including covering outlet covers, keeping cleaning supplies locked in cabinets, covering sharp edges and watching children closely around stairs.

For additional safety tips for babies and children, please visit www.JPMA.org.

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ABOUT JPMA
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) is the voice of the industry on quality and safety for baby and children's products in North America. We do this by:

• Advocating for safety through product certification programs and legislative and regulatory involvement;
• Supporting a broad and diverse membership through member-only programming and industry promotion;
• And by acting as a comprehensive source for baby product information and education.

JPMA members represent 95 percent of the prenatal to preschool products sold in North America. To find out more about JPMA, our Certification Program and Certified products, and for a complete listing of JPMA Members, please visit https://www.jpma.org. Follow JPMA on Twitter @JPMA and connect with us on Facebook to learn about additional safety tips and JPMA initiatives.