Baby / Kids in cars

Extract from AA website..

AAS-TRAFFIC POLICE BELT UP CAMPAIGN

More often than not, fatal road accidents can be avoided through the constant observation of road safety. We are not referring to using designated pedestrian crossings or careful car control but also the use of safety features within a moving vehicle such as seat belts and child restraints.

Imagine the effect of a person hitting the ground after falling from the third storey. An unfastened passenger in a car travelling at just 50 km/h crashing into a barrier suffers a similar impact. If the chance of an adult surviving such a crash without serious injury is slim, what more a child's?

Young children should be suitably restrained when travelling in a vehicle. A child held by a belted adult is just as unprotected. In a collision at 50 km/h, an infant unsecured by restraints would be ripped from an adult's arms by a force 30 times greater than the baby's bodyweight and be violently propelled forward against the dashboard or through the windscreen. It would be impossible for an adult to hang on to the child. If the adult is not belted up, he could crush the child as both would be flung against the dashboard. A properly fitted child restraint system can reduce fatal injuries by up to 75 per cent and serious injuries by 67 per cent.

In a car crash, two collisions take place. When a car hits an obstacle or is hit, it crumples, bends and then stops. When the car stops, its passengers continue to move within the car at the speed which it was originally travelling until something stops them, resulting in a human collision.

In a collision, passengers can collide not only with parts of the car but with each other - if they are unsecured by seat belts or some other suitable restraint. In a frontal crash, front seat passengers can suffer serious neck and spinal injuries when they strike directly or through the seat by rear seat occupants. If a child is within, he could suffer even fatal injuries inflicted by an unbelted adult who inevitably becomes a human projectile in the crash.

According to a study conducted at the University of Tokyo, drivers and front-seat passengers are at a five times greater risk of dying in a car accident if the rear-seat passengers are unbelted. In head-on collisions, the risks are far higher. With an unbelted person behind, the front passenger stands the chance of getting crushed both ways. This contradicts common belief that the back seat is safer.

From 1 October 1992, all available rear seat belts must be used. This rule applies to cars, station wagons or vehicles with double-cabs. It is also compulsory for all children under the age of eight to be secured in an approved child restraint whether seated in the front or back of a vehicle. The penalty for not having a properly secured child is a fine of $120 and three demerit points. In addition, the offender may be charged in court and fined $1,000 or jailed for three months. Repeat offenders can be fined up to $2,000 and jailed for six months. Rear seat passengers in vehicles equipped with rear seat belts will have to belt up too. All vehicles - cars, station wagons, private hire cars, taxis and vehicles with double-cabs - registered on or after 1 January 1993 have to be equipped with sufficient rear seat belts to match the rear seat capacity of the vehicle. Any rear seat passenger who fails to wear a seat belt is punishable with a fine of $120. The driver who fails to ensure that the rear passengers are wearing seat belts will also face a fine of $120 and three demerit points.

Do not take a safe journey for granted. Accidents can happen anytime, even on the shortest trips. Regrets cannot bring back lives or restore loved ones from irreversible injuries. Don't take chances. Keep your loved ones safe.

*INFORMATION CORRECT AT PRESS TIME.

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