Buckle up your children and keep them safe
Some tips by Mogale City's Public Safety to keep you and your family safe.
As the country is prepares for the festive season, Mogale City’s Public Safety has released some tips to keep you and your family safe.
Many South Africans are planning their holidays and some of these activities include travelling, but it is important to keep in mind that this time of the year is known for road accidents, therefore taking extra precautions is essential.
“According to Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) experts, 1 017 children died on South African roads in 2019 alone, most of them from being ejected from vehicles after a collision,” read a statement from Mogale City Public Safety.
The RTMC also revealed that in addition to the country losing around 1 000 children a year in vehicle crashes, over 45 000 are hospitalised. The severity of their mostly head, neck, chest and abdominal injuries differ, depending on age and whether the child was wearing a seatbelt.
The most effective method of reducing the risk of injury or fatality during an accident remains to secure your children with a seat belt.
Mogale City’s Public Safety Division recommends the following:
• Always secure your children in a safety car seat whenever they are in the vehicle, whether you drive to the mall, take a long-distance trip or drive just around the corner.
• Vehicles are not a child-friendly zone, you have to make them safe with car seats.
• The safety seat must be the correct size for the child, as it is dangerous to use one that your children have outgrown.
• Children have outgrown a seat when they have reached the upper weight margin of the seat, or their shoulders are higher than the highest belt adjustment of the seat.
• Children under the age of 13 should ride on the back seat.
• The safest seating in the vehicle is at the back in the centre.
• Never use a car seat where there are airbags. Airbags deploy at 350km/h and can seriously injure your child and even cause death.
