Safety checks for child car seats
Published Tuesday, 09 August 2011
Ensuring that your child's car seat is fitted correctly is the focus of a new campaign.
The council's road safety team have been out helping shoppers ensure their child car seats are not only fitted in the right way but are appropriate for the child's height which will help reduce the number of child casualties in road traffic collisions.
The move follows recent campaigns and research which have highlighted that many child seats are incorrectly fitted and many children are not restrained at all.
A properly restrained child in a car is 90% less likely to be killed in an accident.
The council is supporting the Scottish Good Egg In-Car Child Safety campaign, which is running nationally, to benefit from its proven track record of success in significantly reducing casualty rates among child passengers across Scotland over the last 10 years.
Councillor John Murray, the chair of the council's Road Safety Forum, said: "Although well-intentioned parents may install a child car seat to keep their child safe, the danger of serious injury is just as great if the seat is not fitted properly or if they have chosen the wrong type of seat for the height, weight and age of the child.
"That's why it was encouraging to see so many people take part in the car seat clinic we held at Sainsbury's in East Kilbride recently
"Anything that can help reduce the number of children involved in accidents will always have our full support."
Michael McDonnell, Director of Road Safety Scotland, said: "We have seen the number of children killed or seriously injured in cars fall by 72% over the past 10 years which marks a welcome contribution to the GB Government target of a 50% reduction.
"This is a tremendous success story which I believe could not have been achieved without the Good Egg campaign."
And the campaign is also being backed by the police. Superintendent Alan Duncan, Lead Officer for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) National Campaigns, said: "Recent figures show a fall in child passenger casualties which is encouraging. However, we are still finding children who are either not wearing seatbelts or who are restrained by unsuitable or incorrectly-fitted car seats.
"We fully support the Good Egg Campaign which helps to educate drivers about their responsibilities in relation to in-car child safety and provides practical advice to ensure children are kept safe whilst on the move."
According to campaign organisers, this year's campaign will be the biggest yet with high-profile radio and online advertising backed up by extensive social media activity on Facebook and Twitter.
For more details about the Good Egg Campaign please go to www.protectchild.co.uk
