If a child under 10 years of age sits in the front seat, a fine of Dh400 and four traffic points will be slapped on the guardian, as stated by the Abu Dhabi Traffic and Patrols Directorate in a Gulf News report published in June 2016. This puts their lives at risk in the case of an accident.
Children should be seated in the back and babies should be buckled up in child safety seats facing the rear of the car.
According to a study conducted by the Health Authority Abu Dhabi in 2012, the use of car seats for children in Abu Dhabi is less than 20 per cent and another study conducted by UAE University reported that around the UAE, 98 per cent of children sitting in the back were unrestrained, while 23 per cent of children were travelling in the front seat illegally, of which 96 per cent were unrestrained.
It seems that people are unaware of the dangers of children being unrestrained in moving vehicles. In a report published by the Ministry of Interior in 2016, it is highlighted that a child sitting in the front seat, either alone or in a parent’s lap, is exposed to the dangers of being “ejected from the car” in case of an accident.
The proper use of child seats could reduce the possibility of death in an accident by more than 70 per cent for infants and 54 per cent for toddlers, as stated by RoadSafetyUAE, an initiative promoting safety standards in the UAE.
But, do parents know how to use these seats properly? It turns out that most parents do not. A study conducted by UAE University in 2014 found that only one in five parents used the seats for infants and many still did not use them correctly. Very few used the harness to secure the child, which can be more dangerous than not using the seat. Additionally, many were confused regarding the appropriate age to start and to stop using a car seat.
To read a guide on proper child seat usage, visit www.gulfnews.com/guides.
