Car seats for children drastically reduce risk of injury: doctors and officials

Описание: Officials and doctors have come together to promote child safety seats in cars. The proper use of car seats for children can drastically reduce the risk of injury in an accident. Parents can also be fined for failure to use a car seat for kids under three. But a recent survey showed that 20% of parents with very young babies think it’s OK to carry a child on their lap in the car. Doctors say that’s not a sensible risk to take.

Taking a newborn baby home from the hospital, the first order of business is installing a car baby seat. But a Health Promotion Administration survey found that almost 20% of Taiwanese parents with a baby under the age of 1 don’t put their baby in a car seat.

Officials gathered to urge families not to take the risk of holding a baby in a lap in a car. Statistics from Jing Chuan Child Safety Foundation show that when a child of 10 kilograms is traveling in a car at 40 kilometers per hour, and the car makes an emergency brake, that child is hit with the force of 300 kilograms. The whiplash effect can even break a child’s neck or be fatal.

Wu Chao-chun
Health Promotion Administration director-general
It’s especially true for children aged 2 and under, because when a child’s development isn’t very mature, particularly the development of structures around their vertebrae, an emergency brake or even a crash can easily cause injury.

Doctors and officials advise choosing a car seat with a certification mark. Children under 1 or weighing less than 10 kilograms should be in the back seat in a reclined car seat or a backward-facing child seat. Children aged 1 to 4, or weighing 10 to 18 kilograms, should use a young child safety seat. From ages 4 to 12, or weighing 18 to 36 kilograms, a normal safety seat is recommended.

Peng Chun-chih
Taiwan Pediatric Association council member
When you have the capacity to purchase a car for your family, as a tool to replace walking, then you absolutely must put your child’s safety first. So adults must persist in promoting what is most important and most vital.

A safety seat can reduce the risk of mortality from a car crash by 70%. And under new regulations from the transport ministry, families who do not place children under the age of 3 in appropriate seating can be fined NT$1,500 to NT$3,000.