Car safety for kids
Children should always be strapped in car seats when travelling, even if it is just to the shop around the corner. But being in a rush is part of parenting and it is easy to turn a blind eye once in a while and hope for the best.
In a car accident, the child is most at risk of death or serious injury. If not buckled up, he or she is usually flung head first because the head is the heaviest part of the body, resulting in serious head, neck and facial injuries. Brain injury is also possible because the head is subjected to opposing forces. A baby’s head is particularly vulnerable, because the skull is so soft.
If a baby weighs 10kg, the force at the moment of impact is equivalent to a weight of 300kg. An adult who travels with a child on the lap will not be able to hang onto the child and the child will be flung with this terrifying force against the dashboard or windscreen, usually head first.
The situation is worsened if the child is sitting on an adult’s knee with a belt around them both. In a collision at 50km/h, an adult weighing 50kg will squash a child against the belt with a force of 1.5 tons.
Don’t be fooled that serious injuries can’t happen at low speeds. Up to 80% of deaths and injuries occur at speeds less than 80 km/h.
And up to 75% of deaths and injuries in road accidents occur less than 40km from the person’s home.
The most dangerous place for a baby is to be on the lap of an adult who is not buckled up, or to be buckled up together with an adult.
The latest discussion centres around whether children should remain in booster seats in cars past the current suggested age - perhaps as late as 10 years old. More importantly, some authorities believe that height should be the factor rather than age. Our government will include the issue of child restraints in cars in their 2009 discussion paper on road safety measures.
Don’t let kids play in the car, even in your garage or driveway. They’re incredibly good at imitating you, so they can let the handbrake off, or even start the engine.