Unrestrained child worries

"It only takes a couple of seconds to buckle up." Sergeant Kris Burberry

Manawatu children’s lives are in danger, police say, after finding youngsters unrestrained in vehicles at traffic stops.

In a statement, police say they recently stopped vehicles carrying unrestrained children as young as three.

Allowing children to travel with no seatbelt or car seat was putting their lives at risk and wearing a seatbelt was not optional, Central District road policing Senior Sergeant Kris Burberry said.

‘‘Anyone who is in a vehicle that is fitted with a safety belt must wear it and children must also be correctly restrained using approved child restraints.

‘‘This is all about minimising injury and death risks to the person and other vehicle occupants in the event of a crash or other sudden change in vehicle speed or direction of travel,’’ he said.

Not wearing a seatbelt was a contributing factor to fatal injuries on a similar level to speed and alcohol. ‘‘That is unacceptable. ‘‘It only takes a couple of seconds to buckle up.’’

An appropriate restraint provides significant protection during a crash, Burberry said.

Hundreds of responses to a police post online expressed anger and many commenters had seen children travelling unrestrained on Manawatu roads.

Michael Dell said over the weekend he saw a child sitting in the windowsill of a car, ‘‘hanging out of the car filming their journey through the [Manawatu] Gorge on Sunday night. Ridiculous.’’

Horizons road safety coordinator Debbie Webster said it was unfortunately ‘‘a common thing’’ for a small portion of the population to let children travel in cars unrestrained.

‘‘A lot of people think ‘oh, I’m just going down the road to the dairy, or to drop the kids off at school’.

‘‘A lot crashes happen within a short distance of home, and particularly at intersections.