Donate used car seats and save a child’s life

Imperial Logistics and the 94.7 FM crew decked out at the Hillfox Shopping Centre for the annual Car Seats for Kids campaign on 6 October.

The public is encouraged to donate car seats for less-privileged families and help reduce the number of child fatalities during road accidents.

The seats are dropped off for refurbishment and redistributed at a later stage.

Imperial’s activation manager Bruce Smuts said this year, the distribution process will include parents coming to the distribution place in their cars in order to learn how to install a car seat.

“Previously, we distributed the car seats at schools and the families would just come and collect it, but we are stepping it up a notch. We are going to provide training for parents on how to fasten it in properly. So often we see parents wearing seat belts and the kids just moving around in the car and we are trying to decrease those kinds of dangers by providing seats for everyone,” said Smuts.

The campaign – now in its third year – collected 1 500 seats in 2013 and currently, 600 seats have been donated.

The organisers will look to beat the previous record in the upcoming stops in Pretoria.

Smuts added, “We do this campaign in October because it is also Transport Month and we want to raise awareness about the dangers of not strapping your children in car seats. If you think of a ping-pong in a tin, that is the same effect for a child that is not strapped in a car seat during a car accident.”

According to a study conducted by Imperial, more than 250 children die every year in South Africa because they are not strapped in their car seats.

Niki Cronjé, group marketing manager at Imperial, encourages all South Africans to pledge their used car seats to the campaign.

“The stats clearly show that there exists a need to increase education around not only strapping a child in, but also ensuring that their child is placed in the correct seat for their weight.”

Details: Bruce Smuts 082 555 3593.