Restrain Your Child
Thelma and Kirsten are my cousins. Both are adults and graduates who should know the value of life as well as the value of strapping. Both know that I spent the better part of my life preaching road safety which I still do even as a retiree. Both don’t own cars of their own.
So, every Sunday, I chauffeur both to church in my car. Except for the most senior who usually takes the front seat, it is a battle for Kirsten to strap without being forced to. Even when she or her cousin sister boards an Uba, they rarely strap as a handful of ladies do when they board a taxi.
Last week, I told you that seatbelts do not prevent a crash from taking place. Other variables come to play. The list is endless as they include excessive speeding, distracted driving among others. Seatbelt, however, plays a crucial role in reducing the severity of injury to vehicle occupants involved.
Vehicle safety features are distinguished by these categories: primary and secondary safety. Primary safety features aim to prevent a road traffic crash taking place; e.g., good brakes, tyres. Secondary safety features on the other hand aim to prevent or minimise injury to a vehicle occupant once the crash has occurred.
Seatbelts are a secondary safety device with a number of objectives which includes preventing ejection from the vehicle in an impact, reducing the risk of contact with the interior of the vehicle or reducing the speed of such impacts, thus, providing a distributed force to the wearer to give the necessary support in an accident restraining the vehicle occupant before guiding them back into their seats.
The effectiveness of the use of seatbelt is no longer in doubt as studies conducted since the 1950s have shown conclusively that seatbelt, when worn and fitted correctly, saves lives. This finding includes its value for both the driver, other occupants of the vehicle, whether adults or children.
Despite 23 years of seatbelt enforcement and enlightenment, seatbelt wearing rate is still commendable for front seat passengers but is still alien for most rear seat occupants. Even the penalty for default is so low that it deters no one from committing the infraction.
I am sure you will be wondering what the penalty is for this infraction in the United Kingdom. Presently drivers and passengers face an on-the-spot fine of one hundred pounds which is about N49,000. However, if prosecuted, can face a maximum of 500 pounds which is equivalent to over N200,000 while the cost for similar infraction in our clime is N2,000.
Despite these lamentations, seatbelt wearing in England is high. Estimates for 2023 stands at 97.6 per cent for drivers. Since 1999, the biggest increase has been observed for adult rear seat passengers from 54.0 percent in 1999 to 83.8 percent in England and Wales in 2021. 95.2 percent. I believe we can achieve a measure of success in this regard if we focus on this.
However, with data showing that in 2023, about a quarter of all car occupant fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt. This is similar to the percentage of unrestrained occupants in 2022 which was around 50 percent. Based on these findings, the Department of Transport says those who do not wear a seatbelt are “disproportionately likely to be killed in road collisions.” This underscores my call for a reconsideration of the current penalties in our clime to deter continuous infractions as well as enhance efforts by the Corps to reduce road traffic crashes.
Truth is that seatbelts save lives. It can’t be put simpler than that. Seatbelts have been adjudged to be the most effective traffic safety device for the prevention of death and injury in the event of a crash. Wearing a seatbelt can reduce risk of crash injuries by 50 per cent according to the Global National Safety Council.
Remember that on January 1, 2003, the Corps launched a decisive enforcement on the use of front occupant seat belts nationwide. One could say without fear of contradiction that the launch was extremely successful with about 90 percent compliance level recorded all over the country.
Twenty-one years down the line, the need arises to take another long look at the issue of seatbelt usage in the county especially for rear seat occupants.
In a couple of weeks, the frenzy over the 2024 end of year celebration will begin not minding the challenging times. While we indulge in our travelling habits, we must adhere to the provisions of sections 58(3&4) of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2004 which specifies the use of seatbelt/child restraints by all occupants. The safest way to carry that child is to use a child seat that is suitable for their weight and size. Do you know that even in a minor crash, an unrestrained child would be thrown from the car through one of the windows?
Do you know that in a crash at just 30km/ph, an unrestrained child would be thrown forward with a force 30 to 60 times their body weight? They would be thrown about inside the vehicle, injuring themselves and quite seriously injuring (or even killing) other people inside the vehicle.
They are also likely to be ejected from the car through one of the windows. Do you know that it is not safe to hold a child on your lap? That in a crash, the child could be crushed between your body and parts of the car’s interior. That even if you were using a seatbelt, the child would be torn from your arms, and that you would not be able to hold onto him or her, no matter how hard you try.
Do you also know it is dangerous to put a seatbelt around yourself and a child or around two children? Or to carry that child or children in the front passenger seat or on your tummy as most of us do especially during school runs or rush hour. That the safest way for children to travel in cars no matter the distance, is in a child seat that is suitable for their weight or size.
An approximate child restraint, is one which conforms to the United Nations standard ECE Regulations 44-03.This is suitable for the child’s restrain and are divided into categories, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Child restraints are divided into categories, according to the weight of children for whom they are suitable.
These correspond broadly to different age groups, but it is the weight of the child that is most important when deciding what type of child restraint to use. Some child restraints are capable of being converted as the child grows and therefore fit into more than one group or stage
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