Dubai - Third of UAE parents do not have proper child car seats
Published: Sun 10 Jun 2018, 12:45 PM
Updated: Mon 11 Jun 2018, 10:07 AM
RoadSafetyUAE launched the first child car seat with airbags on Sunday in collaboration with Mamas & Papas to raise awareness on the importance of child safety.
About 64 per cent of fatal injuries of kids are the result of road traffic incidents (Abu Dhabi). Experts see that the new holistic seat belt law as per July 1,2017, ongoing education efforts and the introduction of innovative products are key ingredients to improve the situation.
According to Maxi-Cosi, who manufacture the seat, in the case of a collision, the airbags located in the two shoulder pads of the harness inflate within 0.05 seconds. This reduces the forces on a child's neck up to 55% compared to a standard forward-facing child car seat.
The airbags automatically deflate just one second after the collision. The ground-breaking technology enhances the safety of children in forward-facing car seats enormously. Tests prove that this new technology leads to a significant reduction of the forces acting on the neck vertebrae and the head in the case of a frontal collision.
Thomas Edelmann, Managing Director, RoadSafetyUAE, said, "In a research project we conducted in February 2017 we found out that 34 per cent of UAE parents do not have proper child seats or booster cushions. The numbers are even more alarming in the segment of young parents (18-29 years), with 42 per cent and in the segment of Emiratis with 47 per cent not having the needed devices!"
He added that there's hope that parents would have started using child car seats and booster cushions more since the seat belt law was introduced in July 1, 2017. "We will soon repeat the 2017 research project to find out, if this actually has happened!"
The introduction of the high-tech airbag child seat, he said, will raise the awareness for this fundamental topic of child safety once more.
"This partnership will result in a series of initiatives aimed at raising the awareness for child car seat safety and improving the penetration and the actual use of child car seats."
Mamas & Papas became the flag-bearers for the topic of 'Child Seats' on the on-line portal of RoadSafetyUAE, providing essential tips & tricks for concerned parents and other stakeholders- http://www.roadsafetyuae.com/child-seats/
reporters@khaleejtimes.com