Sardines or seatbelts?
RANDBURG – How safe are your kids, being shuttled to and from school by 'mom's taxi' type service providers?
Amendment 22 of the National Road Traffic Act, which came into effect on 1 May 2015, stipulates that all children under the age of three must be strapped into an age and weight appropriate child safety seat when transported in a private vehicle. Motorists who don’t comply can be fined.
“This is significant because, for the first time in almost 20 years, children under the age of three are actually defined and included in the Act,” said Peggie Mars, founder of Wheel Well, the only non-profit organisation, based in Brightwater Commons, in South Africa that focuses exclusively on road safety for children. “Prior to this amendment, children under the age of three were literally non-entities.”
“The new legislation, however, does not apply to minibus taxis and buses,” continued Mars. “This is very unfortunate because Newton’s laws of motion do not prescribe to the laws of State. In the event of a collision, children are at serious risk of severe spinal injuries, brain damage, and death, regardless of whether they are travelling in a car or a taxi.”
The transportation of children in South Africa is a completely unregulated industry. The onus is on parents to scrutinise a service provider before signing a contract and entrusting the safety of their children into that service provider’s care.
“Ideally, service providers should be operating on a best practice system, based on international prescribed safety standards,” said Mars. “This would be a ‘one bum per seat’ rule, where every child has their own seatbelt, rather than packing in kids like sardines up to the maximum vehicle load in terms of mass. This could equate to anything from two to three children per adult seat, depending on the age and size of the children being transported.”
According to Mars, the vehicle should be fully insured and the driver fully licensed. Besides a valid driving licence for the type of vehicle in question, the driver also needs a Public Driver’s Permit (PDP) if they drive a vehicle, like a minibus taxi, which transports 12 or more people, including the driver. The driver needs to be certified as medically fit by a doctor, have not been convicted of driving under the influence (DUI), reckless or negligent driving, or a violent offence, and never have had their driving licence suspended.
“If the service provider transports children under the age of three, parents should ask if their vehicles have the now-mandatory child safety seats, and preferably a child-minder to monitor the children,” concluded Mars. “And because their employees work directly with children, it would also be prudent for service providers to ensure that neither their drivers nor child-minders have been listed on the Sexual Offenders register.”
Have you come across rogue service providers who are a law unto themselves? Do you think the child transportation industry should be regulated?
Details: Peggie Mars peggie@wheelwell.co.za, 072 385 7121, 073 393 7356.
