World Road Crash Statistics show that almost 1.3 million people die from road accidents every year, making that an average of 3,287 deaths a day. We take every precaution to protect the lives of our kids, but how many are putting a price limit on it?
Source: Wikipedia.org
These stats clearly show how dangerous being on the road is, especially for a child not in a car seat in South Africa. The rise in car accidents year on year is a sad reality. Furthermore, those involving children are even more tragic.
Now, even though cars are being filled with technological features to assist in bringing down this number, it still doesn’t fully protect. Ultimately, the power is still in the hands of the driver. And while you may be a good and cautious driver, it comes down to the recklessness of other motorists.
Ask yourself: How much am I willing to spend to keep my child safe on the roads of South Africa?
If you have kids then you know the price of a child car seat, they don’t come cheap. Well, the more responsible parents would anyway. (South Africans generally seem to put low importance to the wearing of seatbelts and especially when it comes to, child car seats aside, strapping kids in. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen un-buckled kids romping around moving cars. Horrifying!!) Just as we research cars prior to purchase, the same should be done with child car seats.
Have you researched the car seat you’re putting your little one into? Has it passed the correct safety and crash tests? Or did you pick one on the shelf that looked the part or was priced the cheapest? You’re buying it from a good retailer so they all should be good, right?
Wrong!
The economy is tough right now, budgets are tight and it’s only natural to be seeking out products that reduce costs, but does this apply to all products? Just yesterday, WesBank released Naamsa vehicle sales results for May 2017. In the report they mention,
“Affordability and value-for-money also continue to factor into purchase decisions.
…consumers are seeking ways to lower monthly installments.”
But, every parent has a duty to their kids to keep them safe and not be hesitant to purchase child safety car seats because of the expensive price. They fail to realize the long-term benefits or disastrous potential effects of cheap alternatives.
Cheap alternatives
Now, there are new “portable” child car seat harnesses that have made their way to South Africa. As Wheel Well mentions, “These ‘cheaper’ options offer parents a false sense of security and do not help to prevent injury or death.”
This device will not protect a child as would a proper child car seat which conforms to EU regulations. Crash tests have been conducted in the U.K. on these “cheaply made and previously untested” ‘portable’ car seat harnesses and the results were shocking. They were shown to disintegrate at a low-speed collision of under 60 km/h and the crash test dummy was propelled to the front of the vehicle.
Via DailyMail – Life-endangering: The illegal ‘killer car seat’ offers no protection as the dummy child is launched into the front of the vehicle during a test crash at just 48km/h.
Via DailyMail – Disintegrated: The child seat is ripped to pieces, sending the dummy flying after the low-speed crash.
Via DailyMail – Aftermath: The bent dummy lies in the tattered remains of the illegal car seat after the revealing test by Bitax.
“To put this in perspective, a normal child car seat is tested to survive impacts at speeds in excess of 100 km/h. With the huge forces involved in a car crash, parents must ensure they purchase car seats that adhere to current and tested regulations and standards. In South Africa, we adhere to European standards and the car seat must feature an orange European Economic Commission stamp of approval sticker.”
Any flaws in a car seat will become apparent at the time of an accident. Which is far too late. Rather than risk your child’s life, invest in a legal and certified car seat.
Wheel Well
There is an organization called Wheel Well that caters for those who cannot afford a brand new car seat. The organization aims to make car seats available to lower income families, in addition to educating the masses.
Wheel Well transforms used (donated) safety seats to almost-new condition. Seats are thoroughly cleaned and checked for defects before they are put into stock; they advise parents on the correct choice, installation, and use of child seats; they give talks on the issues around the use of seat belts and child seats, and they also rent out child car seats.
How to choose a car seat in South Africa?
Image from Wheel Well website
The first thing you need to do before making a car seat purchase is to check your vehicle owner’s manual. This is to see where exactly the car seat should go and how it should be installed.
Secondly, the correct seat needs to be chosen in terms of your child’s age, weight, and height. Child seats are produced like clothes and are measured by weight and height specifications.
Types of child car seats
Rear-facing seats are recommended for newborns and infants. Here, the age is not important as the height is the bigger concern. A CPS (Child Passenger Safety) technician in California, mentions that once a baby’s head is within 1 inch of the top of the seat, he/she has now outgrown the rear-facing seat.
Forward-facing seats are for children at least 2-years old or have reached the maximum height/weight capacity for the seat.
Then, there are Booster seats for children over 18kg. Children around 8 years of age can then make use of the adult seat belt in the back seat.
Thirdly, check how much space you have in your back seat. Seats with a large base may not fit in smaller cars.
Fourthly, choose something that has accessible harness adjusters and one that has retainer clips that your toddler/child can’t unbuckle.
Things that bump up prices in child seats are just comfort and cosmetic features such as additional cushioning or a larger canopy. Also, a seat that’s easy to clean would be convenient.
