Make sure your children are protected by having the right safety equipment in your vehicle

JOHANNESBURG - Jan. 12, 2015 - PRLog -- “What makes these statistics particularly tragic is that many of the deaths and injuries could have been avoided if these underage passengers had been correctly restrained in their motor vehicles,” says Charmaine van Wyk of Bakwena. “I believe if more parents fully understood the serious dangers associated with unrestrained children in a moving vehicle, they would certainly take the initiative to ensure their children’s safety.”

According to South African law, children between three and 14 years old being transported on the road must be restrained in car or booster seats in the vehicle. Where a special safety seat like this cannot be provided, children must be secured using the vehicle’s seatbelts. If there are no seatbelts, children must only sit in the back of the vehicle. From April 2015, the law will also require children under three to be buckled into car seats.

While these regulations need to be enforced by traffic police it is up to the adults transporting children on our roads to also take responsibility for their safety. Research has revealed that in an accident scenario child safety seats can reduce injury to babies by up to 70% and by up to 50% in older children. This is because at the moment of impact, unrestrained occupants of the vehicle collide with each other and with the inside of the vehicle, slamming against headrests and the sides of the car. The speed at which the impact takes place can propel the occupants right through the windows where they can be flung in front of an oncoming vehicle.

However, since standard seatbelts are designed for adults to use, they can also cause serious injury to the child they are restraining. That’s why it’s so important to secure children in the vehicle using age- and size-appropriate equipment. The quality of child safety seats is also very important.

Babies who weigh less than 9 kg must be placed in a rear-facing seat in which they lie flat. In the event of an accident, being in this position will protect their bones and spine. A prone position is also important because a baby’s head is heavier than the rest of their body, and a forward-facing car seat could lead to serious neck injuries in an accident. A forward-facing car seat can only be used once a child is two years old.

After the age of four, or if children weigh more than 18 kg, they no longer need a car seat. They do, however, need a booster seat that allows them to see out the windows and the seatbelt should be positioned at their shoulder level. Ideally, car or booster seats must have side-impact protection to protect heads and necks from partial head-on or side impact collisions.

A word of caution is also needed on the issue of airbags. Although a vehicle fitted with airbags is considered safer than a car without them, for children under 13 years old, airbags can be dangerous and even lethal. The force is sufficient to decapitate a small child or cause serious head injuries. Even low-speed crashes in which the airbag was deployed children sitting in the front seat have been killed. Therefore, it is generally recommended that no child younger than 13 should sit in the front seat of a car equipped with passenger-side airbags.

“The safest place for children is in the centre of the back seat, using a lap-and-shoulder seatbelt or a child's safety seat. While the new amended regulation is clear that children must be seated in appropriate seats when travelling, parents need to realise that they are not doing their children a favour by holding them on their laps or allowing them to play on the back seat, as they may just end up going through the windscreen”, concludes van Wyk.

Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (Bakwena), which holds a 30-year concession contract with the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) to manage, maintain and upgrade the N1 and N4 toll routes, is not only committed to delivering world class roads, but also to ensuring the safety of all who make use of them.

For more on Bakwena visit www.bakwena.co.za.

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Issued by          :          Charmaine van Wyk

Bakwena

011 519 0400