We keep a teether/rattle in the car, and we clip it to his carseat. But that's not for safety -- we just do it so he can't throw it onto the seat and then cry.

none, they are mostly asleep during car drive

I'm guilty of having more than a few toys in the car for my kids. My 2 1/2 year old daughter has a play laptop, books, and a travel aquadoodle and my 7 month old has teething toys and other clip on toys on his car seat.

I understand this theory, and when I remember I even buckle up older boys booster when he's not with us.
But you know what I don't do? Store my purse/diaper bag in the floor bins/trunk (in husbands car).
Seriously, I think it's a little overkill to think that people can seriously not have even one unsecured item in their vehicles.

All we have is a little monkey lovey. We actually keep it in the carseat and he get's to snuggle and chew on it whenever we go out. So far that has been all we need to keep him entertained. My son is only 7 months so not sure how long this will last.

I think this safety advice is really important. We started off well, but our car has become a serious junk box since having a kid. We recently went through all of the toys that had managed to make their way into our car and brought all the hard ones back into the house. It's often the small toys that we're inclined to let our daughter bring into the car, and they're usually the worst choices as they're most often hard.

When we had our first car seat installed at the local police station, they also gave us the advice to not use the sun shade on the car seat while in the car, and to avoid using any sun blockers on the windows that have hard components (usually they stick on by suction cups). If sun blocking is necessary, they recommended the films you can get that stick on by static charge.

Makes sense. We often have hardcover books in the backseat but usually no large hard toys. I just don't see how a book in their lap would be a problem though. Wouldn't it just land on the floor?

Tooooo much. We had the whole policewoman-safety-vetting before our daughter was born and got the advice @anmar did (and followed it to the letter).

My daughter is now three, and this advice seems really...micro-focused in an unrealistic way for the long haul. Everything she holds during a two hour drive is hard (book! iphone! magnet bear box!). So are the groceries and my purse. I get type-A about metal water bottles, but for the rest I accept it's going to be thrown at our heads.

What about sippy cups and snack bowls? Those can be thrown, but are a lifesaver to us. At 20 months, anything he has thrown has landed on the floor anyway.

these standards should be considered not just for the sake of a kid throwing them at you and you getting hit. they should be considered for accidents or even close-calls. this is extreme, but illustrates my point: when my mom was in high school, her choir group went on a retreat, they were in a van i believe and the driver nearly got hit and had to slam on the breaks. this caused a bowling ball to launch from the cargo area, hit a girl in the back of the head and kill her. like i said, this is an extreme case, but consider this when keeping larger, heavier or hard toys/things in your car that could injure you or your child in such a case.

I also read an article about a woman who had an unsecured laptop that flew across her car in an accident, hit her in the head, and killed her. I have been the unfortunate target of my son's (he's three) sippy cup, shoes, books, and toys. He's pretty good too, and manages to hit my head most of the time. We've taken all the hard toys out of the car, but I still occassionally let him have his cup in the car. He's getting better, but I'm always fearful of head injury in the car.

Reading this and seeing that car seat have gotten to me...

We used to have that exact car seat.

The thing is, we have lived in Europe for the past 4 years, and I now KNOW that the top-of-the-line Britax Marathon in the picture does not provide the best possible protection for 70% of car accidents -- namely, side impacts.

So, sure it's important to watch out for unsecured luggage -- in our case, our kids' shoes, the iPad, and a water bottle -- but isn't it at least as important -- if not more so -- to ensure that North American car seats provide the best possible protection for 70% of vehicle impacts?

Because right now, North America does not test or rate child seats with respect to side impacts. (Europe does)

And that particular seat does not provide good side impact protection.

excellent post - definitely makes me think about all the stuff I keep in the car to keep my little ones busy!