The day after Labour day means one thing in Canada: Back to School. Time for new classrooms, homework assignments, and going to and from after school activities. Carpooling in the Ford Edge with your child’s classmates is a smart environmental choice, saves on gas money, plus it provides a chance for your child to socialize outside of the school environment.
Here are a few tips to make back to school carpooling easy.
1. Communication Planning
Plan ahead and communicate with the group who will participate to understand the schedule for each child. This is the best time to determine the needs of the children and if a booster or car seat is required. Parents can discuss and agree upon rules inside the vehicle, how to address behaviour during the ride, and allergen friendly approved snacks. If a child is ill, or does not require a ride, the group should be notified to avoid wasting commuting time.
Carpooling is comfortable in the Ford Edge.
2. Smooth ride
Since the carpooling rules have been established, why not provide child friendly music, books on CD, or casual conversation to allow the children to prepare or decompress before and after school.
During the drive kids can munch on parental approved snack packs in baggies or containers such as: premeasured granola, cherry tomatoes, grapes, sliced apples, fig newton bars, cut peppers, and celery sticks. All of these items are fast and easy to prepare ahead of time and healthy alternatives to store bought packaged snacks.
A cooler with water or juice bottles on hand is recommended to avoid dehydration especially doing the warmer months.
While picking up or dropping off each child, all of their bags, back packs, or science projects can fit in the Ford Edge trunk. The cargo capacity doesn’t compromise the seating area, so no squishing passengers to make space. Sometimes, to load all these items an extra set of hands is necessary.
Plenty of cargo space for carpooling in the Ford Edge.
With a little kick under the back bumper the available foot activated hands-free power liftgate makes bringing all your passenger’s items that much easier.
Load and unload cargo with the hands-free power liftgate.
3. Safety
Nothing strikes fear into the heart of a parent faster than an unsafe situation. Vehicle preparation should occur before the drive to ensure emergency kits are fully stocked, all signal lights are working properly, a spare tire is in the trunk, and air pressure is at correct levels.
To provide the safest carpooling experience, the Ford Edge has child-safety rear door locks that are easy to activate to prevent accidents. The Ford Edge comes with available rear inflatable seat belts, which expand to 4 times the size and prevent injury in the event of a collision. Best driving practices like hands at 10 and 2, and checking mirrors always are encouraged. Features like available Blind Spot Information System (BLIS®) are helpful to detect other motorized vehicles in a blind spot when changing lanes or backing up.
When parked and waiting on your group to emerge from school sometimes the other cars can overcrowd one area. That’s when you’ll appreciate the available front 180° camera which allows you to expand peripheral vision and see approaching vehicles coming from either side. In cases of snowy weather or dirty roads, the front 180° camera even has a washer to maintain a clear line of sight.
Throughout the school year, these tips can be applied for an enjoyable school carpooling experience for both passenger and driver.