RAF brings car seats as they visit Ermelo

The Road Accident Fund (RAF) donated baby car-seats to new mothers at the Ermelo Provincial Hospital last Friday.

This is part of their Child Restraint Project where needy new mothers, who are in possession of vehicles, are provided with car-seats.

The programme came about when children fatalities escalated as a result of not using car-seats.

Ejection from a vehicle can cause trauma and severe injuries with 75 per cent of all vehicle occupants ejected from a vehicle in a crash dying as a result.

The risk of death for infants is reduced by 70 per cent and that for children aged one to four years by 47 to 54 per cent when they use car restraint seats.

The handover preceded the main event, an outreach programme that took place on Saturday at the Msukaligwa Local Municipality Civic Centre, where the RAF tended to the physical, financial and emotional needs of car crash victims, their families and depen­dants during its flagship “RAF on the Road”.

More than 500 residents from Ermelo and surroun­ding areas adversely impacted by road accidents were assisted with the registration of new claims, settlement offers, finalisation of rehabilitation support and consolidation of compliance documents, among others. Frustrated claimants were also able to report challenges they were facing with unresponsive attorneys.

“RAF staff members sacrificed their free time to engage claimants face-to-face, thus bringing hope to many people,” said the Msukaligwa Municipality Acting Executive Mayor, Ms J. Bal.

RAF Acting Chief Operations Officer, Dineo Thabede, reiterated Ms Bal’s sentiments, adding the RAF’s employees had responded to a calling to uphold the principles of “putting people first” (Batho Pele) while helping to create a social security safety net for those who die or are injured on South Africa’s roads due to accidents.

The RAF is easily accessible at 11 Hospital Service Centres situated throughout the province with Ermelo Provincial Hospital being one of them.