Traffic authorities across the UAE have observed an increase in incidents involving children being left alone in vehicles by their parents. The careless behavior of parents proved to have dangerous consequences in some of these incidents while the trapped children were safely rescued by authorities in most of the incidents. Three unfortunate incidents of children being left alone in vehicles were recently reported to authorities in which three children lost their lives due to suffocation and heat. Motorists have been advised on several occasions by authorities to follow safety practices when they are travelling with kids.
From following the new seatbelt rules for child safety to ensuring that children are not left alone in the vehicles, it is important for motorists to be careful about the safety of their children to avoid dangerous situations. While motorists have been warned against leaving their children in vehicles, traffic authorities have also defined a set of guidelines to follow in an emergency situation where motorists find children trapped in a vehicle.
Recent Incidents of Children Being Left Alone in Vehicles
In a number of recent incidents across the UAE, children were left alone in vehicles while parents went for shopping or other activities. In one of such recent incidents, the father of a child forgot to take the car keys with him while he went to fetch something from the car’s trunk. The car locked automatically, leaving the child trapped inside the vehicle. Thanks to the cautious and proactive approach of the father, the Abu Dhabi Police and rescue authorities were called timely who reached the incident site and rescued the child safely. The Rapid Intervention Teams at the Directorate of Emergency and Police Safety were sent for the rescue mission immediately, which saved the life of the child.
In some other incidents recorded in the past, children were reported to be suffocated to death because of being trapped inside the vehicles. In June 2017, two Emirati girls aged two and four lost their lives in Ajman when their father went for prayers, leaving them alone in the vehicle. The car got locked automatically and both children were suffocated to death. Many other related incidents have also resulted in child deaths, which is a worrying sign, considering that such unfortunate situations can be easily avoided with a cautious approach.
Also read: A Day without Accidents Campaign Launched in Dubai to Improve Child Safety
Safety Tips to Follow in an Emergency Situation
Motorists need to be careful and avoid leaving their children alone in vehicles. As proved in a number of past incidents, such a careless behavior can easily result in a child’s deaths. While motorists should always try to avoid such a situation, it is important to follow some important safety tips if they ever find a child locked inside a vehicle to prevent dangerous consequences.
Here are the safety tips to follow if you find a child locked inside a vehicle:
- Call the Police
- Don’t panic as the child/children inside the car can get scared if you lose your calmness.
- Cover the car to avoid direct exposure to sunlight so that a tolerable temperature can be maintained inside the car.
- If the emergency services don’t reach the incident site quickly, try to break the glass.
- Break the glass from the side that is farthest to child passenger(s) and make sure that the pieces of broken glass don’t hit them.
- Try to tell the child passenger(s) to cover the eyes and face away from the side that you are going to break the window glass from.
- Don’t break the glass with excessive force and use a pointed object or a stone to break it.
- While breaking the glass, never throw any object at it, instead hold it in your hand firmly and strike it with the minimum force required to break the glass.
These are the safety tips to be adopted if you ever find a child trapped inside a vehicle. Calling the emergency services timely and following these tips can help avoid a potentially fatal incident involving children. Safety of children should be considered important before anything else and motorists should always take their children with them for shopping or for any other activity instead of leaving them alone in the car.
Also read: New Traffic Rule Amendments in the UAE – Everything You Need to Know
Official Statement
Major General Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, Director of the Central Operations Sector warned motorists against leaving their children inside the vehicle, calling it a careless practice that can have seriously dangerous consequences. The lack of oxygen and extra heat during the summer season can result in deaths of children that are trapped inside a vehicle. He added that the traffic authorities were trying their best to raise awareness amongst parents to remain more alert of the safety of their children and emphasized on the importance of calling the emergency services immediately in the event of a dangerous situation.
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