Driving a car is among the most dangerous things people do. Here some safety precautions that must be followed when driving with children.
- Be sure before any journey that the child seat is properly fitted with a belt.
- Never place anything underneath a child in the child seat; otherwise the child won’t be protected by the belt if you are caught in an accident.
- If the belt is too large, it must be tightened to fit your child. If your child sits loosely in the child seat, it is acceptable to roll a couple of towels and place them on either side of the child in the child seat. There are also cushions especially designed for this purpose. You can find them in specialized shops.
- All young children in the car must be secured by a child seat. All older children and adults must be wearing a seat belt.
- The driver should not set off until everyone is securely fastened.
- Keep everyone calm in the car. Shouting may disturb the driver and so create unnecessary danger.
- Only the parent, or another adult, should undo and fasten the child’s safety belt. Parents should not teach their child how to do this, as they can otherwise never be sure that the child is securely fastened.
- If the child opens his or her seat belt, pull over to a safe place and stay there until the child is safely fastened again.
- If the child continuously undoes her seat belt, talk to your child and explain to her that it is very important that she is fastened in the car. If this doesn’t help fit a new buckle so she can’t undo it.
- Lead by example. You can’t teach your child to use the seat belt if you don’t use it yourself.
- Do not place large and heavy objects in the car, eg on the back seat or on the parcel shelf, as they may be thrown forwards in a collision and injure the passengers. These objects should be stored in the car boot.
- A child must never be left unattended in a child seat. They may hurt themselves, accidentally put their head under the seat belt and get suffocated.
- A child must never be left unattended in the car! Especially in a country like Malaysia where it is very hot, the child can get dehydrated very fast or have a heat collapse.
