Sharjah: With road accidents being the cause of 63 per cent of deaths of children under the age of 14 across the UAE, Sharjah Transport has announced the launch of a new service which provides passengers with free-of-charge children’s car seats when using a taxi from Sharjah International Airport.
The initiative, which falls under the Sharjah Transport slogan,“Sustainable Transportation contributes to the development of Society” aims to further help in ensuring children’s safety on the road.
Sharjah Transport has supplied Sharjah International Airport with four children’s car seats as the first step of launching the service.
“The airport will focus on taxi services for ladies and families and will be available in Sharjah Transport Office located at the airport,” said Abdul Aziz Al Jarwan, director of Franchising and Licensing at Sharjah Transport.
Jarwan also added that car seats will be available in taxis regardless of the destination requested by the passenger.
Road Safety Awareness
Among the many safety campaigns launched in the past year in Sharjah, the Children’s Safety Awareness Campaign by the Sharjah Ladies Club’s focused on educating the public about the importance of seat belts. Taking place between January and April 2012, the campaign was also carried out in various government buildings.
It warned parents about the dangers of setting up a car seat in the front seat. It also advised them to place the car seat facing the back in order to avoid airbags in case of an accident.
Highlighting that only 2 per cent of Emirati families use car seats, the campaign advised parents to securely seat their children below 13 years old in the back by making sure they wear a seat belt.
According to the Supreme Council of Family Affairs in Sharjah, child car seats reduce the mortality rate by 71 per cent. In regards to the number of recorded accidents in the UAE this year, around 83 per cent of children who used car seats and were involved in a road accident were not injured.
