Jump-Starting Your Car

Many people in Wisconsin suffer severe eye injuries every year because they do not take proper precautions while jump-starting their car. A spark caused by hooking up the jumper cables can ignite fumes and cause the battery to explode. Battery acid and flying battery parts can blind you.

Here are few simple precautions to avoid a serious injury:

• Wear protective goggles during all phases of the procedure. Keep a pair attached to your jumper cables.
• Put out cigarettes before opening the hood. Use a flashlight, not a match, to look under the hood at night.
• Be certain the vehicles are not in contact with each other.
• Do not allow the cable clamps to touch each other.
• Attach the positive (+) cable (red) to the positive terminal of the dead battery first. Then attach the other end of the positive cable to the good battery.
• Attach the negative (-) cable (black) to the negative terminal of the good battery. Then attach the other end of the negative cable to the engine block away from the negative terminal. Do not attach a cable to the negative terminal of the dead battery.
• Once the engine is started, carefully remove the cables in reverse order, again not allowing the clamps to touch.
• Do not lean over the battery during the jumping process.

If an injury does occur, seek medical care immediately.

Courtesy of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Reprinted from Patient Education CD Personal Eyes and Ophthalmic Images, with permission of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, copyright 2003. All rights reserved. Users of this website may reproduce one (1) copy of this for their own personal, noncommercial use. All Internet, web or electronic posting or transmission is not permitted.