Miros hopes road safety clip will click

agency releases new video on the dangers of using ‘dummy buckles’

The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros) is making an effort to deter the use of “dummy buckles” used to stop seatbelt alarm through a graphic but meaningful video.

It is an accessory originally meant to be a seatbelt extender. With the ‘dummy buckle’ inserted into a seatbelt buckle, the motorist concerned can silence the intrusive chime of internal car alarms when one is not strapped in.

Miros said the ‘dummy buckle’ was currently a fad among motorists as it was widely available at convenience stores as well as online portals at a low price.

“In an accident, the ‘dummy buckle’ can cause the driver to suffer chest injuries if the person hits the steering wheel and dashboard, or if thrown out of the vehicle due to the impact of a collision,” it said in a statement yesterday.

The one minute and 40 second video begins with a scene of a woman crying while accompanying her injured husband on a stretcher being wheeled by two nurses into a hospital emergency room.

A time-stamp of 4.30pm appears during the scene.

The scene then flashes back to 4pm and shows the man, unconscious and with his face bloodied, in the driver’s seat with his injured and desperate wife trying to revive him after the crash.

The video then shifts further back in time to 10.28am with the man at a car accessory outlet, asking a shop assistant if he could look at a ‘dummy buckle’.

He pauses for a fleeting moment as a scene of him and his wife in a car accident flashes before his eyes.

The man then looks at his wife lovingly and smiles to himself before opting against buying the ‘dummy buckle’.

The video, produced together with the National Film Development Corp and the Asean Road Safety Centre, is accompanied by a narration on the importance of road safety.

“Life is not just about us but what we can do to alter destiny. Stay away from using uncertified car safety belt accessories.

“Do not allow accidents to teach us the meaning of safety,” the narrator says as the scene ends at 4.30pm with the couple arriving home safely.

A Miros study last year showed more than 12% of motorists used the accessory. It feared that the figure could rise.

Miros director-general Dr Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim was quoted as saying that the accessory was abused by people who did not want to wear seatbelts.