ER24 is pleading with motorists to buckle up and make sure that their children are also properly restrained.
Although shocking stories and statistics about unrestrained children in vehicles are published constantly, some adults refuse to adhere to the advice to ensure their children are properly strapped.
Even travelling at low speed injuries to a child’s head could be the same as dropping them from several metres onto concrete.
Gavin Edwards, a branch manager for ER24, said although there are people who use child car seats, some do not ensure they are strapped in correctly.
“Paramedics attended to a tragic accident involving a family recently. The father died on impact, one child died in hospital while another sustained serious injuries. The baby seat became a projectile with the baby in it. During the crash the baby and car seat landed between the mother and dashboard. It is believed the car seat was not strapped in correctly,” said Edwards.
He urged parents not to bow down to children who throw tantrums due to being restrained. “Parents allow their children to stand in vehicles. Some do not restrain children if they are driving a short distance. Others think by driving slow nothing will happen. You do not need high speed to injure or kill someone. Also, it is impossible to restrain a child during an accident if you put your hand out. The child and person doing the restraining can sustain injuries,” said Edwards.
Paramedics and law enforcement officers often attend to collisions and find children who suffered serious head injuries, broken bones and even horrific deaths.
Superintendent Edna Mamonyane, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson, urged motorists to remember that death cannot be reversed.
Supt Mamonyane said officers who advise motorists about the possible dangers of not using a car seat are often treated as insensitive.
“If a baby cries, let them. Do not take them out of the car seat. Parents must stop thinking that they love their children enough to allow them do as they please in a vehicle. Once your child is gone there is nothing you can do. Make youngsters understand they have to remain in a car seat while you are driving,” she said.
As a result of deaths and injuries sustained by young children, the Department of Transport is amending the National Road Traffic Regulations of 2000 under the National Road Traffic Act of 1996. From April next year infants, below three years, will have to be buckled up with the appropriate child restraint while in a vehicle.
Professor Sebastian van As, the head of the trauma unit at Cape Town’s Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, said, “For a long time children’s rights have been neglected by inadequate legislation.
“Every year we see between 200 to 300 children at the hospital for injuries sustained in vehicle collisions. Eighty percent of these children were not restrained in either a car seat or seat belt. When small children are thrown out of a car, they usually bang their heads on something in traffic or on a pavement.”
Van As, a trauma surgeon and president of Childsafe South Africa, said adults must keep in mind that children under the age of six cannot assess danger by themselves. They are dependent on mature people to protect them.
“Before, children under three years of age were not covered in National Road Traffic Act. It was only compulsory for older children and adults to wear seatbelts. I welcome the amendment. There are several dangers of not using a seat belt or car seat. If a vehicle stops, a child still moves. Also, if a child is in a car seat, the driver is less distracted.’
With the arrival of the festive season, roads are busier. “Over the past few weeks the number of children admitted to the hospital for injuries has nearly doubled. There will be parties predominantly organised for adults. There is always an increase in alcohol intake at this time. If people neglect to take care of children, it makes them much more vulnerable,” he said.
So what is the appropriate restraint for your child?
ER24 offers the following advice:
· Infants should ride rear-facing at least until they are a year old. Once they exceed the weight or height limit set by the manufacturer of the infant safety seat, they should continue to ride rear-facing in a convertible safety seat. It is best to keep toddlers rear-facing as long as possible.
· When they have outgrown this seat, they should use a forward-facing safety seat with a full harness. This should be used until they exceed the weight and/or height limit set by the manufacturer of the seat.
· Children who have outgrown a convertible safety seat should use a booster seat until they are at least four feet.
· Children who are tall enough to wear an adult seat belt should still ride in the back seat until they are 13 years old. Adjust the seat belt so the lap belt crosses the child’s upper thighs and the diagonal belt crosses the upper chest at a point between the neck and shoulder.
