The cabinet of the United Arab Emirates has approved a draft regulation on the use of child safety seats in cars. The draft policy and its technical regulations were suggested by the ESMA (Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology) and the policy aims at reducing the risk of injury for children involved in accidents and improving their safety in dangerous road situations.
Official Statement on the Child Car Safety Seats Policy
State Minister Dr. Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, who is also the chairman of the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology, stressed in a statement that the new policy would help reduce the number of injuries and deaths involving children in serious road accidents. He said that in an event of a dangerous collision on the road, the impact of a child being thrown out of the windscreen while a vehicle is going at 50 kilometres per hour is the same as an individual falling from the third storey of a building. This means that a child who is not wearing a seat belt and is involved in an accident at 50 km/h is at a huge risk of experiencing a fatal blow. Therefore, such incidents are considered as potentially deadly accidents and the new policy is introduced to bring child deaths in road accidents down to a bare minimum.
The new policy would help regulate the child car seat market in the UAE and ensure that the public get access to the right products that will secure their children properly in their vehicles. The policy will also safeguard public interests with regards to child safety-related products and reduce serious injuries by promoting awareness about child safety.
#ESMA#YourChildsSafetyOurAim pic.twitter.com/GKc52LUvpe
— ESMA (@esmaGOV) August 3, 2017
Also read: New Survey Reveals Why Motorists in the UAE don’t Use Child Safety Seats
The New Policy and Amended Federal Traffic Law
Dr. Rashid Ahmed said the new policy complied with the amendments to federal traffic law that was implemented on July 1, 2017. According to the amended traffic law, it is mandatory for drivers to ensure that all children under the age of 4 are strapped in safely in safety seats and that no child under the age of 10 or below the height of 145cm is seated in the front passenger seat. The violation of these rules will result in a fine of AED 400 per person for the driver, along with 4 black points issued against the driver’s licence.
The new rules are being strictly implemented, but according to a recent survey by RoadSafetyUAE and QIC Insured, a staggering one-third of residents in the UAE either did not understand the function or purpose of child safety seats, or did not really care about them. This is a major concern for traffic authorities and was one of the reasons why the government revisited the federal traffic law and made the amendments which were followed by the new policy to regulate the sale of child safety seats in the UAE.
According to the new policy, it has become mandatory for all drivers, including taxi drivers, to ensure that children under the age of four are provided car safety seats and that they are strapped in.
Also read: New Traffic Rule Amendments in the UAE – Everything You Need to Know
Important Child Safety Tips
Following are some tips you should follow to ensure that your child stays safe in your car:
- Choose the right safety seat: There is a wide variety of seats available for children of all ages and sizes. Be sure to get the one that fits perfectly for your children so that they don’t feel uncomfortable and remain safe in event of a dangerous situation on the road.
- Child safety seat vs booster cushion: The regular car seat is too big for a small child. So the child needs a safety seat to be securely strapped in while feeling comfortable. When children are between 3 and 4 years of age, they outgrow safety seats and require a booster cushion as they will simply not fit into the safety seat anymore and forcing them into a safety seat will make them uncomfortable.
- Fastening a seat belt correctly for a child over the age of 4: The diagonal part of the safety belt must run roughly over the centre of a child’s shoulder and not across the neck. This is important to note that the child will not only be uncomfortable and will try to resist fastening the seat belt, but it will also be dangerous in case of an accident as it may cause injury to the child’s throat. The lap part of the belt must fit across the child’s hips and not over the abdomen.
- Not all toys are cool: As a rule, you should never allow toys that can cause harm to anyone for instance, hard, pointy, or metal toys to be brought into a vehicle. During an accident, objects like these can cause serious harm if they are let loose. Therefore, make sure that children in the vehicle have only soft toys with them.
- Leaving children in a locked vehicle: Don’t leave your child or children alone in a car even for a couple of minutes as this is a very dangerous practice. The temperature inside a car can rise quite rapidly, especially if you have not parked the car in a shaded area, and that can make your child vulnerable to heat stroke.
- Top tethering anchor: Most new cars have a top tethering anchor to keep the child’s safety seat firmly in place, this anchor ensures maximum safety, especially in case of an accident. If your car does not have this anchor, then you can easily have it installed. It is slightly expensive but easily available in the market.
Also read: Your Child’s Safety Depends on Your Choice of a Car Seat
With the implementation of the new traffic rules, the traffic authorities aim to improve the road safety standards in the UAE. Safety of children has been given considerable importance in the new traffic law and the approval of the new policy for child safety seats in cars is the next logical step in the right direction.
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