Children’s seats compulsory soon

Cost concerns as time runs out for parents to acquire car safety devices

STRAP your child in a car seat or you will be fined.

Parents of children below the age of three years have less than a month to install car seats before the amendment to the National Road Traffic Act comes into effect.

“As of April 30, it will be illegal for a child in this age group to be sitting on a lap, standing or sitting unrestrained while travelling in a car,” Department of Transport spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said yesterday.

He warned that negligent parents would be fined. The amount would be decided before the month was out.

“It’s going to follow the route of any penalty that applies to the violation of the act – for instance, the normal issuing of a traffic fine [R500] to a person who is not wearing a seatbelt,” he said.

According to the Medical Research Council (MRC), road crashes are the leading cause of injury deaths of children under the age of five in South Africa.

At least four children are killed on the country’s roads every day.

Research by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US has found that strapping infants and toddlers, aged one to four years, into appropriate car seats reduces the risk of death in car crashes by 71% and 54% respectively.

Rikhotso said the legislation was necessary to protect children under three.

“We categorise this age group as vulnerable road users as they cannot speak for themselves hence we had to come up with these measures because if their negligent parents are not willing to protect them, as the state we have an obligation and responsibility to make sure that happens.”

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