Invest in child seats if you love your children

Abu Dhabi/ Dubai - Why do parents dare to keep them in the front seat and even on the laps of other passengers?

"No excuse. No child should be sitting on his parents' laps, this cannot be tolerated," Fatima Al Qimzi, an Emirati, who works as an analyst in government affairs, told Khaleej Times.
Ahmed Al Majayda, a 28-year-old, who works in the Ministry of Human Resources  and Emiratisation, told he witnesses kids sitting on passenger's laps almost on a daily basis on UAE's roads.
"It saddens me to see such neglect and disregard to a child's life. Actually, it not only saddens me, but it also angers me."
But why residents here - in a country with a mandatory law for children under the age of 10 to be seated in the back - dare to keep them in the front seat and even on the laps of other passengers?
Khaleej Times has found that while some exhibit a lack-lustre attitude, there are others who are ignorant of the law. We found parents who said those who neglect the rule do not love their children.
Bangladeshi national Nakib Alam, who recently fathered a boy said: "I never thought of such measures for children till my son was born. Now since he's here, I worry about his safety.
"Keeping a child on your lap and travelling is a terrible idea. Parents must invest in child seats."
A paediatrician from Abu Dhabi, who wished to not be named, highlighted that drivers neglecting children's' safety has become a phenomenon within the society.
"Children are brought in to the emergency room all the time from car crashes suffering from serious injuries because they were not seated properly."
"A four-year-old boy was recently rushed to the hospital after he occurred an ejection injury. We tried to revive him but he died."
Indian national Divya Narwani said that she invested in a car seat as soon as her son Ashrit Keswani, was born. "When he was very small, we avoided travel and I would sit in the backseat carrying him. However, as soon as my son turned six months, we started placing him in a car seat," said Narwani.
The mother of two-year-old Ashrit believes that avoiding baby seats and not strapping the children are extremely risky.
"In case of an accident kids are more prone to injuries if they're left unbuckled. We, the parents have a responsibility to strap them up. I've seen some children sticking their heads out of the sun roofs of cars. It is extremely risky."
Another Indian parent, Bindu Manoj said: "Both my children are grown up now. However, when they were younger we would buckle up for them.
"The worst mistake parents make is keeping a toddler on their laps. The risk in such an act is very high." The two parents also suggested that people must avoid cars that carry more than six passengers.
"Sometimes people tend to stuff the car with passengers giving unsafe seating to kids. This habit must be monitored by the police as well," said Bindhu.
jasmine@khaleejtimes.com/dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com

Expert calls for holistic seat belt law  
A survey conducted by UAE University in 2014 found that only one in five parents used safety seats for infants and there was a wrong conception among people that children are safer in their mother's arms.
Thomas Edelman, Founder and Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE, told Khaleej Times: "We want to state that education, legislation and active enforcement are essential to counter these wrong beliefs."
He pointed out that since there is no holistic seat belt law or child car-seat law in place for passengers sitting in the rear, parents in UAE are going to continue neglecting the safety of their children.
"The single most important thing about road safety is to introduce and enforce a holistic seat belt law. If there is no law for passengers sitting in the back, then kids will continue to sit on laps and run around inside the vehicle," he noted.
He highlighted that as the number of fatalities stood at 5.99 for every 100,000 inhabitants, enforcing the law can thus help achieve the target of three road fatalities per 100,000.
Edelman believes that at the end of the day however, it is the parent's sole responsibility to insure their children are safe on the road.
"Every parent who doesn't buckle up their kids simply doesn't love them."
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE