Buckle-up your kids, it’s the right thing to do

When businessman Pat Fox retired a decade ago, he was faced with a bit of a problem.

Having to drive around five grandchildren, Fox sometimes had to strap the smaller ones onto his backseat without a booster seat.

But one day, he had a serious awakening when a sudden stop left his granddaughter with a bloody nose, bruised skin and stiff neck.

Fox religiously started researching children’s safety in cars and realised what he, in fact, needed when a booster seat wasn’t in reach, was a seat belt positioner to keep the seat belt away from the child’s neck and over the shoulder as prescribed.

And when he couldn’t find one, he decided to make one himself. “At first I only made a few for my daughter, after which more requests followed to which I gladly obliged,” recalls Fox.

“Having just retired, I had no intention of selling this product. But with the huge demand, I decided to pursue the idea – especially with its positioning being unique in the market.”

A very simple design, the Securea-kid fits over any safety belt from either side and keeps the belt in the correct position away from the child’s neck.

Although his invention has been around for almost a decade, Fox finally had it crash-tested according to European Standard ECE R44/03 – the same standard as the booster seats are tested – at an internationally accredited crash test laboratory in England this year. “It was never my plan to try and rival booster seats,” adds Fox.

“I want to educate people so they understand the correct use of a safety belt when children outgrow their booster seats.”

The Secure-a-kid is available at selected shops and online.

• For more information, e-mail Fox at pat@secureakid.co.za

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