Dubai: According to a Gulf News report published in March 2013, around 90 per cent of children in the UAE are not buckled in, in cars and almost 70 per cent of child deaths in the country are caused by road accidents. We asked Gulf News readers to highlight cases of negligence that they had come across, which included children sitting in the passenger seat without a seatbelt, on a passenger or driver’s lap or dangerously leaning out the car’s window.
“I have been driving in the UAE for the past four years. Of late I have seen a lot of drivers, who make me want to ask them this question: “Don’t you love your children?” Forget having a car seat, motorists are holding infants on their laps while driving. Is this to show how good a driver they are or are they plain reckless? A few days ago, I saw a young boy sitting in the front seat with his mom in the passenger seat and his face was against the windscreen. What if the father, the driver, had to brake suddenly? I shudder to think what would happen to the boy. Another day, when I stopped at a traffic signal, the trunk of the car next to mine just opened up. The woman driving the car opened her door and came out to close the trunk. Her young son was sitting in the front seat, without a seat belt, playing with the knobs on the dash board. Parents who are so careless should be fined heavily as they have little regard for the safety of their children.”
From Ms Vimala DeSouza,
Special needs teacher,
Sharjah
