No excuse for shunning child seats

Along with campaigns, strict measures are needed to compel drivers to obey rules

Unrestrained children jumping around in the back seat of a moving car or sticking their necks out of the windows, even a toddler lying in the lap of a passenger while the driver remains fastened by a seat belt – these are common sights on our roads. Despite repeated warnings and countless campaigns highlighting the dangers of not buckling up children or of not using child safety seats, these habits persist. It’s hard to understand what makes so many drivers ignore their children’s safety, while taking care of their own. According to a YouGov survey, almost half of Emirati parents do not have car safety or booster seats for their children. Even more astonishing are the reasons they give for not using those seats.

As reported yesterday, nearly half of those questioned did not buy car restraints because they felt that they were too expensive, that they did not know which child seat to buy, that their children did not like being buckled up or that holding a child was safer. Others cited religious or cultural reasons for not strapping in their children.

We have long argued that these reasons reflected a lack of understanding of the importance of child car seats. But repeated failures to pay heed to warnings suggest something far worse: that people do not want to listen to advice or heed the lessons from the many accidents that take place on our roads each day. As Thomas Edelmann, founder of RoadSafetyUAE, pointed out: “If you love your kids, buckle them up on all trips.”

Unfortunately, this culture of impunity cannot be changed unless tough measures are taken. One of those measures, as suggested by experts, is to introduce a two-year probation period for newly licensed drivers. This will not just teach them to obey rules but could cut future insurance premiums. Although it would be wrong to blame only young drivers for unruly road behaviour, almost half of accidents last year were caused by drivers aged between 18 and 30.

What’s more, from July 1 new drivers will be issued licences for two years, while expatriates will have licences valid for five years, instead of 10. It means that a history of bad driving might make it harder to have a licence renewed. Such a step is a small but significant one on the long road to safety.