Seatbelt Neglect alarMINg
dubai — Listen up motorists, it’s time to get serious about child safety in cars. An alarming study has shown that one in three road users in the UAE fails to fully protect their children while driving. But come July 1, it will no longer be a choice. Seatbelts will be a must.
In mid-March, the Ministry of Interior approved a new draft traffic law making it mandatory for all passengers in a car — both front and back — to wear a seatbelt. A new study on car safety has revealed just why this law is a must.
Alarmingly, the latest data released by RoadSafetyUAE and QIC Insured showed that 34 per cent of motorists with children do not have proper child seats or booster cushions. And what’s even more alarming is that only 70 per cent of the 1,000 respondents surveyed said they always prompted their child to buckle up, which drops to 42 per cent for young parents and 59 per cent for Emiratis.
“The poor behaviour of adults translates into poor habits to protect our children,” said Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of RoadSafetyUAE. “We see one in three motorists failing to provide proper restraint systems for their kids and the identified reasons need to be addressed. The main message is a very simple one: If you love your kids, buckle them up, on all trips,” he said.
Though the new draft law aims at lowering road fatalities from six per 100,000 inhabitants currently to three per 100,000 by 2021, at present it only applies to private vehicles. School buses and taxis are exempt from the all-passenger seatbelt rule.
Edelmann said this rule could change. “What we know now is that schoolbuses, taxis and other forms of public transport are exempt from the draft law. However, we cannot fully detail how it will pan out until the final version of the law comes into effect on July 1. It’s a matter of waiting and seeing.”
reporters@khaleejtimes.com
The poor behaviour of adults translates into poor habits to protect our children. If you love your kids, buckle them up, on all trips.” Thomas Edelmann, founder, RoadSafetyUAE
The implementation of the holistic UAE seat belt law as of July 1, 2017, is a big step towards more road safety for children, as proper child systems will become mandatory.”
Frederik Bisbjerg, executive vicepresident, QIC Insured, MENA Retail
dubai — According to the findings of a study, one in three motorists in the UAE fail to fully protect their children while driving. Alarmingly, 34 per cent of motorists with children do not have proper child seats or booster cushions.
The number is highest among Emiratis, at 47 per cent, and 42 per cent among parents aged between 18 and 29.
The latest data released by RoadSafetyUAE and QIC Insured is part of a two-part survey that surveyed over 1,000 UAE residents of all ages and nationalities, which revealed a lack-lustre attitude among parents while driving.
The first part showed that many local motorists have a limited understanding and low usage of backseat belts, and that only just over half of motorists (56 per cent) always prompt all passengers, including children, to wear their seat belts.
Additionally, the survey showed that only 11 per cent of adults always buckle themselves up in the backseat, and that 55 per cent of passengers ‘feel safe enough’ in the backseat without a seat belt.
However, the survey shows a high level of knowledge of child restraint systems, with 93 per cent of respondents stating that ‘kids are better protected with child seats and seat belts in case of accidents’, with the highest score – 97 per cent – among females and motorists over the age of 35. The lowest level of knowledge was among drivers between the ages of 25 and 29, at 87 per cent.
“The poor behaviour of adults translates into poor habits to protect our children,” said Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of RoadSafetyUAE. “We see one in three motorists failing to provide proper restraint systems for their kids and the identified reasons need to be addressed.”
“The main message is a very simple one: if you love your kids, buckle them up, on all trips,” he added. “It is of key importance to educate parents about the undebatable benefits of proper children restraint systems.”
The reasons for not having proper child seats or booster seats account for cost reasons (29 per cent); children do not like to be strapped in (28 per cent), a lack of understanding of the need to buy child seat (25 per cent), and a belief that passengers holding children is adequately safe (15 per cent).
Motorists above 35 were most likely (36 per cent) to think child seats are too expensive, while parents between the ages of 30 and 39 were the most likely (39 per cent) to think that kids don’t like to be strapped in. Young parents between the ages of 18 and 24 were the most likely (36 per cent) to not know which restraint system to purchase.
Parents don’t prompt kids
Additionally, a large percentage of parents — 30 per cent — do not always prompt their kids to buckle up, even if they are among the 66 per cent with the proper equipment. This figure, however, drops to 42 per cent for young parents and 59 per cent for Emiratis.
The most significant reason for not prompting children to buckle up were the belief that they are not needed for short trips (37 per cent), children don’t like being strapped in (32 per cent) and that perceived safe driving doesn’t require proper safety measures (26 per cent).
Frederik Bisbjerg, executive vice-president, QIC Insured, MENA Retail, said that “the implementation of the holistic UAE seat belt law as of July 1, 2017, is a big step towards more road safety for children, as proper child systems will become mandatory”.
“Besides parents, kids must also be educated from a very early age about the protective power of child seats, seat belts and booster cushions,” he added. “The concerned stakeholders in the public and private segments, and especially the education sector, are challenged to protect children and educate them about safe conduct in vehicles.”
reporters@khaleejtimes.com