driving with windows open

broken4u05 · Mar 21, 2007

I have a question. Is it safe to drive with the windows down and what about if you have kids in the back? I like driving with my windows open and i mostly only open the front windows and crack the back ones sometimes the back just stay closed but i want to know if it is safe to drive with windows open?

joolsplus3 · Mar 21, 2007

I've never heard it's *not* safe, at any rate... good question! I wonder if there's any data anywhere on that....

broken4u05 · Mar 21, 2007

All i can really think that would not be safe about it is if something came flying into the car. I dunno

tl01 · Mar 21, 2007

The only downside I've heard of driving with windows open is people stealing a purse off of a passenger seat or something like that. If the seat is in the footwell as it should be anyway I wouldn't worry. I know they saw gas mileage is better on the highway with the AC and windows closed but in the city its better to have the windows open.

broken4u05 · Mar 21, 2007

I dont have a purse and i never really open them all the way because of the wind they are like half way. I dont really like the wind right in my face. So does this sound safe?

LuvBug · Mar 21, 2007

I only crack my windows(2-3") when DS is in the car, but when he isnt they are all the way down. Most the time I keep them closed if DS is in the car though. Ive had insects fly in the car. Ive had twigs and flowers fall in the car. Ive had a few random things end up in my car from the windows being down lol! but I dont live in the city

Id only worry about what might end up in the car when you have them down.

TheRealMacGyver · Mar 21, 2007

The only thing I could think of would be what someone else said about something flying in. Maybe a bee

or even just dust that could get in your child's eyes. Other than that I do it, I like fresh air. If your that concerned you could put the vents on outside air and get fresh air that way. I guess as far as the back windows go, your child could throw something out the window that you really don't want them to

joolsplus3 · Mar 21, 2007

Probably is. I always open mine about 2 inches in the front and one inch in the back...all the fresh air, none of the bad hair

I thought Mythbusters busted that 'less gas to use the A/C' story?

LuvBug · Mar 21, 2007

joolsplus3 said:
I thought Mythbusters busted that 'less gas to use the A/C' story?

they did. At first the (engine)tests showed that driving with windows closed and AC on was more effecient... but then they did the real world test of driving at a set speed with a set amount of gas until the car stopped and the windows down turned out to give them a better result.

I drive with my windows down/cracked until it is just too hot to matter. Then I keep them up with the AC on.

NatenMaddiesMommy · Mar 21, 2007

TheRealMacGyver said:
I guess as far as the back windows go, your child could throw something out the window that you really don't want them to

I've had a sippy cup tossed out the back window. Of course I only realized it after I couldn't find the darn thing anywhere in the car, and I remembered hearing something hit the side of the car on our outing that day

Morganthe · Mar 21, 2007

Sun exposure is why I can't handle driving with the windows down anymore

Though I never liked the sand & rocks kicked into the window by other vehicles.

I had special window tint installed last year on my car that blocks about 98% of UV light. I noticed a difference on my skin within 2 weeks. I used to get really small bumps like heat rash on my left arm since I'm always the driver each summer. It wasn't a sun burn, but the skin was tender to touch. Now I don't have it unless I"m outside a long times (which I try not to be -- sunscreen doesn't stop this).

If I roll down my window on intensly sunny days to drive around, the rashing appears by the evening. I swear I can almost feel my skin percolating

I'm glad dd is in the center of a high backed rear seat + the windows tinting. She doesn't need the strong sun exposure at this young age. My mother & grandmother have had rashing like this appear too. I'm too much of a Washingtonian, born to rust, not be a sun lover

The tint also really helps out my a/c & gas mileage. I've noticed it on long distance drives. And since I've already had to start using my A/C last week, that's important

Please consider sun exposure on your kids when they're in vehicles. It can add up really quickly

joolsplus3 · Mar 21, 2007

LuvBug03 said:
they did. At first the (engine)tests showed that driving with windows closed and AC on was more effecient... but then they did the real world test of driving at a set speed with a set amount of gas until the car stopped and the windows down turned out to give them a better result.

I drive with my windows down/cracked until it is just too hot to matter. Then I keep them up with the AC on.

Ah, ok, good to know!

joolsplus3 · Mar 21, 2007

Morganthe said:
Sun exposure is why I can't handle driving with the windows down anymore Though I never liked the sand & rocks kicked into the window by other vehicles.

...good point about sun exposure... I know our car must not let much UV in , because dh wears Transitions lenses and they don't tint at all when we are in the car (good thing, cuz they are kind of an ugly shade of blue I don't like to look at , rofl!)

Victorious4 · Mar 21, 2007

We've had bees fly in before.... Only thing worse than that was Leila's affinity to toss her socks & shoes out

I love fresh air (my asthma doesn't, though), but Leila is a priss -- "too much wind, mamaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

joolsplus3 · Mar 21, 2007

papooses said:
We've had bees fly in before.... Only thing worse than that was Leila's affinity to toss her socks & shoes out I love fresh air (my asthma doesn't, though), but Leila is a priss -- "too much wind, mamaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Ok, I heard about a *tragic* crash once where the mom drove off an off ramp, the circular kind, and I think maybe the kids lived in the back, but the mom died, and the only somewhat verbal toddler in the back kept talking about the bee in the car...like the mom was distracted by it and that's why she drove off the edge, or got stung by it or something... anyway, horrible way to become an orphan (not many good ways to become an orphan, come to think of it, but I always think of that poor toddler describing the bee in the car before his mother crashed and died...I bet she wasn't wearing a seatbelt?)

Victorious4 · Mar 21, 2007

Sooooo sad

I"m not allergic so I never freaked out ... but one time in Cali. I was listening to the news on the radio on the freeway about African Bees swarming local residents -- I exited the offramp & heard a strange sound, followed by a scream: some guy on a Harley next to me was running a red light to try to escape a HUGE THICK swarm of bees

Totally bizarre & scared the pants off me!

LuvBug · Mar 21, 2007

Yeah bugs dont bother me. If its something potentially harmful I find somewhere to stop and get it out. The only thing that freaks me out is those tiny little black spiders that look like armored machines!!! those freak me out bad! lol!

broken4u05 · Mar 21, 2007

well my windows are never opened all the way and in the back the most i ever open them is an inch. Good to know others do this too

Splash · Mar 21, 2007

Actually, it is dangerous to have the rear windows down at high speeds with an infant.
Blow in your baby's face and watch what happens. They stop breathing. It's a basic swim teacher skill, and it works every time. Baby lungs don't fight counter pressure. They can breathe in, but are unable to breathe out. So the wind constantly buffetting the baby's face can, in fact, cause the baby to stop breathing. Of course, you're going to ask me to cite this and the simple truth is I can't, and Google did nothing for me just now. Which is why I told you to blow in your baby's face. And if you keep blowing, the baby will continue to hold her breath. Please stop blowing before your baby turns blue.

With an older child, this is less of an issue, but I still would not be willing to have the windows down while the kid was sleeping, or period while the kid was RF. I have my windows down about 1/4 way in the back at times, but normally only when Charlie is screaming and opening the windows calms him down (or drowns him out, whichever the case may be). Unless I can verify that he is breathing (screaming, playing, I can see him, etc), I don't do it. Once he's FF I might be okay with it as long as he is awake, but there really is very little opportunity here to have the A/C off, anyway.

Simplysomething · Mar 21, 2007

I don't like driving with the windows down because I don't like wind to blow on me. BUT I have--in the past, used open windows to get children to fall asleep. lol

On a road trip, when my oldest son was 3 and my nephew was 7--we opened the front windows and they conked out. Was nice.

driving with windows open

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