Baby restraints offered for rent

Press, 31 October 1981, Page 7

Baby restraints offered for rent

. The Plunket Society in Dunedin has launched a scheme to rent out car safety seats for babies. It is an offshoot of its campaign for safer travel for children. The restraints for babies — they are attached to an existing seat belt, usually the front passenger seat, with the baby facing towards the back of the car — will be hired out during a baby’s first six months for $lO, with a refundable deposit of $2O. Then, after six months, parents can hire a child restraint.

A Plunket survey showed that about one-third of all babies travel on a parent’s lap in the front seat of a car. Research shows that babies under one year are the most vulnerable in car accidents. The director of medical services for the society, Dr David Geddis, said the most frequent response from

mothers, made aware that they could rent a child restraint once their baby reached six months, was to ask what they were meant to do in the meantime. “We were concerned that we were leaving the children to fend for themselves during the first six months ... so we arranged for a supply of baby restraints,” Dr Geddis said. The South Christchurch branch of the Plunket Society hopes to have a rental scheme for the seats working before Christmas. The branch president, Mrs Angela Smith, said no definite date had been set but arrangements had already been made for free installation of the seats.

The president of the Christchurch branch, Mrs R. B. Wright, said that her branch’s rental scheme would start in February or March next year.