Playing ‘dangerous’ games
A photo was posted on Facebook showing a girl hanging from a moving vehicle.
Parents who are not keeping their children strapped in when traveling in a car can be slammed with a hefty fine said William Nchefu, Mogale City Head of Traffic.
A photo was posted on the Krugersdorp Network Community page on Facebook yesterday, 29 April, by a concerned motorist showing a child hanging from a moving vehicle as it was making its way to the underground parking lot at Key West Shopping Centre.
Users then reacted negatively upon seeing this and questioned how the child’s parents can allow something like this to happen. Some users expressed their concern with the safety of the child in the event that she could have fallen from the vehicle and get seriously injured in the process.
Nchefu said children need to be strapped in at the back and that no body part of the driver nor his passenger/ s are allowed to protrude a vehicle.
“It is indeed illegal and if caught by a traffic officer the driver can be fined between R1 000 and R1 500.”
He said the driver can even be arrested and make an appearance in court should the passenger, and in this case, a child fall from the vehicle and get injured.
ER24 also pleads with motorists to buckle up and make sure their children are appropriately restrained.
Gavin Edwards, a branch manager for ER24 urged parents not to bow down to children who throw tantrums due to being restrained.
“Parents allow their children to stand in vehicles. Some do not restrain children if they are driving a short distance. Others think by driving slow nothing will happen.”
He said you do not need high speed to injure or kill someone and that paramedics and law enforcement officers often attend to collisions and find children who suffered serious head injuries, broken bones and even horrific deaths due to not being strapped in.
The News contacted Key West’s Marketing Manager Michelle Papastefanou for comment about the incident.
“The photograph visibly shows a minor, under the supervision of the driver, breaking the law.
“Key West does not condone any activities that are harmful to an individual or activities that infringe on the law. This incident falls under the traffic and metro jurisdiction. We urge parents to act responsibly and be aware of their children’s well-being,” Papastefanou said.
