MAKE CHILD SEATS MANDATORY
They can save lives in the event of an accident
LESS than a week ago, a 9month-old baby girl was killed in what some people are calling a freak accident. Was it really a freak accident, though? Assuming news reports of the incident are indeed accurate, we may just have an inkling of whether this was a freak accident.
The baby’s mother was driving along Jalan Seremban-Simpang Pertang in Jelebu when she was believed to have lost control of the vehicle as she negotiated a bend. The car then crossed into the opposite lane, where it collided with another vehicle. The force of the impact caused the infant, who was in the arms of her father seated in the front of the car, to be flung out of the vehicle.
Should this be true, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was no freak accident. It was an accident, yes, but it was not a freak one. The baby’s death could have been avoided, almost assuredly, should she have been in a child seat, or in this case, a baby carrier hooked up in the rear of the vehicle.
In many countries, child seats are mandatory. Experts agree that such seats generally increase the chances of a child surviving an accident. Surveys in the United States, for instance, find that hundreds of children’s lives have been saved in bad accidents.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had surmised in a survey a decade ago that between 1975 and 2008, nearly 9,000 children were saved because of the use of child restraints.
Doctors in the US will tell you that child seats can save lives. A Malaysian paediatrician working in Connecticut, in fact, tells stories of horrific accidents in which every single person in the vehicle was killed except for one child, who was in a child seat.
In Malaysia, there is no law yet requiring children to be placed in child seats, though it is believed that one is in the works. Whether it will be a law on its own, or amendments under the Road Transport Act remains to be seen. Either way, it is long overdue.
To be fair, the trend of using child car seats in Malaysia is catching on. More and more parents are thinking of the safety of their children, even though such devices here are ridiculously overpriced.
But, there are many parents who don’t seem to know about the proper use of child seats. For instance, there are those who place their babies in child seats, but for some reason, do not fasten the seat to the car. How is that supposed to help?
Then there are those who place child seats in the front passenger seat, a no-no, especially if the front passenger seat has airbags. There are other “rules” which need to be followed for your child’s safety to be at optimal level. Different weights and heights require different types of car seats, for instance.
While the trend is catching on, many Malaysian parents are still oblivious to the necessity of keeping their children safe in cars. Some just don’t know any better. Some, perhaps, can’t afford to get those devices.
But, what safety-conscious people cannot fathom is the horribly irresponsible way in which some parents-cum-motorists act when they have children in the vehicle with them. Malaysia has long since made it mandatory for rear passengers to buckle up, yet there are many whose children sit in the back but are not restrained in any way.
There are also those whose children sit on their laps up front, including in the driver’s seat. Many of us have perhaps also seen children poking their heads out the windows, or above a sunroof, much like dogs do.
Funnily enough, many of the adults in these vehicles have their seatbelts on, but apparently don’t see anything wrong with their children not being restrained. Should an accident occur, these adults may very likely survive, but their children may just as likely not.
Such was the case of the 9month-old baby in Jelebu.
Malaysia needs to have a law making child seats mandatory, at least up to a certain age. It is a natural progression from getting rear-seat passengers to buckle up.
Experts agree that such seats generally increase the chances of a child surviving an accident.
The writer has more than two decades of experience, much of which has been spent writing about crime and the military. A die-hard Red Devil, he can usually be found wearing a Manchester United jersey outside of work