Child car safety

Press, 7 June 1983, Page 33

Child car safety

As part of a campaign to reduce the high child death rate on the roads, a booklet for parents about car safety is being distributed throughout New Zealand.

The booklet is produced by Auckland University’s department of community health and is called “The Parents’ Guide on Child Safety in Cars.” It is being distributed to all Parents’ Centres, maternity hospitals, Plunket clinics, public health nurses, playcentres, kindergartens, creches, daycare centres, and public libraries. The booklet is intended as an accompaniment to the video film, “When You Need

My Love,” and describes why child car restraints are needed, lists those available in New Zealand, and how they fit in different cars.

“It is not safe for the children just to be put in the back seat without a restraint. Two-thirds of the children who die in cars are sitting in the back seat,” says Ms Diana Rands, the research assistant for the booklet.

“If the family car has not got seat belts in the back, they can be installed for less than $5O. Special child restraints ( for very young children cost between $2O and $130,” she says.

“Some of them may seen expensive, but they can be sold second-hand when they are no longer needed. They are as necessary as tyres — and compared with tyres, the restraint is cheap.” New Zealand pre-school children are three times as likely to die in a road accident than their English counterparts, she says. The cost of producing the booklet has been borne by the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Ministry of Transport, Auckland local authorities, and various companies. Extra copies can be ordered from Auckland University at $1 each.