Older children need to be kept safe in cars after they outgrow their car seats and booster seats.
As the Spring school holidays progress in SA, Motor Industry Workshop Association (MIWA) chair Dewald Ranft urged parents and caregivers to make sure their older children buckle up too.
“There’s a lot of emphasis on buckling babies and toddlers into car seats and rightly so, but keeping older children safe in our cars is just as important. Public school holidays are upon us and if you are going away, make sure everyone buckles up.”
“What we need to understand as parents and motorists, is that our vehicles are travelling at speed and even if you aren’t involved in an accident, just harsh braking can send a child not strapped in hurtling forward in the car,” he said.
The warning comes after 14 people were killed at the weekend. In the first incident, 54 people were thrown out of a truck they had been travelling in from a wedding near Mbathane in eMadlangeni resulting in six fatalities at the scene. Two later died in hospital.
In a separate incident, a minibus taxi ferrying traditional healers lost control and overturned, killing six people in Dannhauser.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for transport, community safety and liaison Sipho Hlomuka pleaded with motorists to respect traffic regulations and drive responsibly.
“These two accidents are unacceptable and clearly demonstrate negligence on the part of drivers and vehicle owners. While we understand the plight of our people in farming areas, it is disturbing that 54 people can be loaded in a truck. This may result in fateful accidents and loss of human life.
“Equally, in the Dannhauser incident there is a clear sign of traffic violation. The investigation in both these accidents is under way. The provincial government extends its deepest condolences to all the affected families who lost their loved ones,” said Hlomuka.
Hlomuka expressed concerns that the increasing rate of accidents come as the province launches the October transport month campaign.
Ranft said too often older children sit in the back or even the front seat of vehicles without seat belts.
“They fool around while the car is in motion, stick their heads or even half their bodies out of the window and more. There have been countless accidents where children are thrown through windscreens or out of side windows. This can obviously result in severe head trauma and death.”
He said even sitting in the back of a bakkie, though deemed fun, endangered children.
“Kids sitting in the back of a bakkie is another big no-no. Even with the canopy on, if that bakkie rolls the children will be thrown around in the back of the bakkie and can be severely injured. Gone are the days when putting your kids in the back of a bakkie was fine. We travel at far faster speeds now because our vehicles are designed to do so. This even applies to smaller roads. Don’t be fooled. Speed kills,” he said.
Older children are old enough to understand the importance of wearing a seat belt, Ranft said.
We are collaborating with the department of basic education to ensure road safety education is part of the curriculum at basic level.
— Sindisiwe Chikunga, transport minister
Netcare 911 said the power of a parent’s love can only protect a child from the massive forces of a car accident when age-appropriate car seats and safety belts are used every time a child travels in a vehicle — no matter how short the distance.
“When you see what we as paramedics have to deal with at accident scenes, you’ll understand the importance of wearing a seat belt and securing your child safely in a child seat. It is especially chilling to arrive at a scene and find a mother cradling her child after he’s been ejected through the windscreen. As a parent myself, I can never emphasise the importance of car seats enough,” said Charné van der Berg, Netcare 911’s critical care operations manager.
The Road Traffic Management Corporation found that in 2021, 7% of SA’s road accident passenger fatalities were children under 14.
According to the most recent Statistics SA causes of death and mortality survey, road accidents accounted for 4.2% of non-natural deaths for babies under a year old, and 15.5% for children aged one to 14.
“Accidents happen when they are least expected — even a quick trip down the road can have fatal consequences if a child is not safely restrained. According to Arrive Alive, properly installed child safety seats can reduce the need for hospitalisation among children younger than four years by 69% in road traffic accidents.”
“It is not safe for a child to sit on an adult’s lap while travelling in a car. The adult may be safely strapped in with a safety belt, but the force of a collision is so immense that the child isn’t protected at all. People often think they would be able to hold onto their child in the event of an accident, but in reality it’s not possible,” said Van der Berg.
Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said lessons from many countries can show SA how to drastically reduce accidents and save lives.
After participating in a global road safety panel discussion on the opening day of the 27th World Road Congress in Prague in the Czech Republic, Chikunga said SA could do more to improve road safety.
“It is clear from the experiences of many other countries, both developed and developing, that we in SA can do a lot more than what we are doing to improve road safety. It is fundamentally about changing our behaviour.”
“We can avoid unnecessary accidents on the roads if we drive at the correct speed, taking into account what is happening in our surroundings, we can be more considerate of other road users, we can be more patient, we can avoid driving under the influence of alcohol. We can change our behaviour to prevent accidents and save lives,” said Chikunga.
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