As part of a series of awareness programs, SAFRA defensive driving academy with the cooperation of Saudi companies organized an awareness program at Jeddah raceway recently on child safety with the aim of educating drivers and passengers about the importance of using child and infant safety seats to protect children in case of accidents or sudden stops. A study has warned that children who are not seated safely could suffer fatal injuries that equate to a 10-meter drop, even at a speed of 15km/h. “We noticed that many parents do not pay enough attention to their children's car safety, and studies have shown that most children's injuries are caused by not paying attention to the fact that children have small bodies and neglecting to safely fasten them and protect them from sudden impacts of varying strength,” said Engineer Marwan N. Nusair, President and CEO of Alujain Corporation. Car safety professionals have pointed out that incorrectly fastening a child's safety seat can lead to serious injuries and may even be fatal in case of an accident. Seating children in a properly attached safety seat placed on top of the car seat can help avoid serious injury when in a road accident. Nusair elaborated on the specific instructions given by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine on how children must be seated in cars, stressing the fact that all infants and young children must be seated and fastened in their safety seats. Additionally, the safest place for children under the age of 12 to ride is in the back seat with their seatbelt fastened. These instructions also explained that infants less than one- year-old must be placed in appropriate infant seats, placed in the back seat area with the child facing backwards. Children should never be seated facing the front because this position might cause damage to the spinal chord upon a sudden stop or impact, Nusair explained. Furthermore, infants should never be placed in the front seat of a car, especially if it is equipped with airbags, because the pressure that is unleashed upon deployment can be fatal. Infants should also never be seated on the knees of an adult or with their head placed on the chest, as this increases the chances of serious injury and death in the case of an accident, he said. Nusair also noted that a study published by the “Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine” linked to the American Association for Internal Medicine clearly shows a direct correlation between increased safety when children are placed in safety seats and decreased safety when placed in regular car seats, even when attached to a seatbelt. Medical authorities are very focused on child safety in cars and point out that safety measures should always be taken, regardless of whether the drive is long or short, while nannies and drivers should be made aware of the importance of child safety while in the car, he said. Nusair also referred to the results of another study that showed that a sudden impact or stop from a car going at 48 km/h transforms an unattached child's weight into the equivalent of a small 3.5 ton elephant. The same study showed that placing a child in a safety seat can decrease by sevenfold the likelihood of any serious injury, even if the car comes to a halt from a speed of 50 km per hour. Nusair also urged parents to make sure that the safety seat is securely and tightly attached, while ensuring that the seatbelt goes under the child's armpit and does not block his or her vision and breathing. The study went on to warn parents that it is dangerous to hold children or to place them on their lap anywhere in the car, explaining that if a car driving at 50 km/h comes to a sudden stop, a 10 kg child can turn into 300 kg, making it impossible for a parent to safely hold the child. In addition to that, the study suggests that parents take their children and safety seats with them when shopping for a car to make sure that they are compatible. According to a report published last year, an average of 20 people are killed in Saudi traffic accidents daily, with 284,000 road accidents occurring in the past year, resulting in 1,481 disabled people. In 2008, the figure for road deaths was 6,400. In 2005, the number of people killed in road accidents was 4,000. The financial cost of accidents is three times greater than the combined expenditure of education and health sectors in the Kingdom. The financial loss caused by traffic accidents exceeds SR20 billion annually. “Our children's safety is paramount and it is our duty to create awareness of the importance of providing future generations with any and all safety means, an initiative that Alujain Corporation is willingly and fully backing up,” said Nusair.
