The Crittenden Automotive Library

Child Safety Is The Priority In Cars

Child Safety Is The Priority In Cars

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
August 20, 2013

All drivers ensure that cars that are used, however infrequently, to transport children are equipped with safety seats to minimise the prospects of injury should the worst happen, right? That is how it should be yet surprisingly not all parents are that responsible.

According to a recent survey by the road safety charity BRAKE apparently only one in four (26%) know the law on child and booster seats and only one in six (16%) said they would use a child seat in cars until their child was 150cm tall, the height recommended by safety experts.

The survey of 1,000 parents of children under 10 by the organisation also found a shocking one in 20 (5%) said they never use a child or booster seat. More than a quarter (26%) have used a child seat or booster seat that did not fit properly. Half (47%) don't always ensure their child uses an appropriate child seat or booster seat when travelling in a taxi or someone else's car and more than a quarter (27%) have used a second hand child seat or booster seat, which is not recommended by safety experts. BRAKE clearly wants motorist to wise up to the realities.

This call to action come as Brake's annual Beep Beep Day campaign kicks off, which aims to save childrens’ lives on our roads. Over the next three months, 200 nurseries, pre-schools and children's centres are running Beep Beep Days. These special days that help teach tots and their parents about road safety and raise awareness about the need for drivers to slow down to protect families. Anyone with appropriately aged ankle-biters is encouraged to sign up.

BRAKE reminds us that every year more than 700 children under eight are killed or seriously injured on roads in the UK. Child restraints greatly reduce the risk of death or injury in a collision and if children are not properly restrained they will be thrown from their seat with great force, even in low-speed crashes, into the seat in front, the door, or through the windscreen. UK law states that parents must use a child or booster seat until their child is either 12 years old or 135cm tall. You know it makes sense.