Booster seats key to child safety

Experts: using adult seat belts puts little children at risk

ABU DHABI // Parents are urged to not strap small children into adult seat belts because it could be fatal in accidents.

Experts warned against the common error and said children should be kept in booster seats until they have outgrown them.

Parents and drivers should realise that seat belts and child seats will save lives and reduce injuries only if they are used and sized correctly, said Robert Hodges, a driver education and road safety expert.

“Often, the child wrongly uses an adult seat belt at too young an age or too small a height, so the parent or child will put the diagonal belt under the child’s armpit, or will tell the child to ‘hold the belt down’,” he said.

“I have known parents who tell the child to put the downward diagonal belt behind the child’s back, reducing protection to that of a poorly-fitted lap belt only.”

Children who should be in a booster seat but are wearing only a seat belt are at risk of abdominal, head and spinal injuries.

“If the seat belt does not sit correctly across the rib cage and the pelvic bone, there is a risk that soft tissue in the abdominal region and the lower spine is damaged in the event of a collision,” said Dr Britta Lang, the UAE country director of Transport Research Laboratory.

“This is what we refer to as the ‘seat belt syndrome’ and happens, in particular, when only a lap belt is used,” Dr Lang said.

Generally, children need to use a booster until they are at least 149 centimetres tall and weigh between 36 kilograms and 45kg, said non-profit Safe Kids Worldwide. For most children, they will be between the ages of 8 and 12.

Seat belts in cars have been developed with “the average adult” in mind, Dr Lang said.

“They best fulfil their function of spreading the stopping force needed to keep vehicle occupants in their seats after a collision across their body, for grown-ups,” she said.

Child seat and seat belt rules vary around the world but authorities look at three key elements: age, weight and height, Mr Hodges said.

In the UAE, there is no law obliging young children to be strapped into safety seats.

“Introducing a law that prescribes the use of child seats is urgently needed,” said Dr Lang.

“This must be coupled with education campaigns.” Dr Reem Al Ameria, an Abu Dhabi-based child passenger safety technician and instructor, also warned of the dangers of wrongly using seat belts.

“Recently, I noticed my nineyear-old daughter had the belt behind her back while strapped in a booster seat,” said the Jordanian mother of three.

“I told her of an incident involving a six-year-old girl in the US who was nearly cut in half because of a common seat-belt mistake. The girl’s seat- belt strap was behind her at the time of the accident.” Dr Al Ameria recommended a high-back booster seat with strong side impact protection.

“I would love to see a child car seat law, but I must admit I’m seeing more car seats while driving around the city,” she said. “I’m sure we’re in a much better place than before in terms of people’s understanding of car seats.”