Concern about the safety of babies or younger children while travelling in vehicles are often dismissed by most parents as they have the misconception that children are safe or protected in the arms of the parents in the event a collision happened. Many were unaware that by using child safety seats they are able to save the children’s lives or prevent them from sustaining serious injuries.
MIROS study found that children transported in private vehicles are the first and second leading groups of casualties among children under the age group of 1–4 years old and 5–9 years old. The former comprised 43.8% whilst the latter consisted 30.2% of the casualties.
With that grave concern in mind, Rampai Puteri Medical Centre (RPMC), a hospital dedicated for the care of mothers and children, will be organizing a road safety campaign to create awareness on the importance of using child safety seats in vehicles among Malaysian road users. For this initiative, RPMC will be organizing the ‘Buckle Up, Baby! Campaign’ on 1 November 2017 at Rampai Puteri Medical Centre located in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur.
The initiative includes:
- Launching of the ‘Buckle Up, Baby! Campaign’ that will be held in the month of November.
- Implementation of RPMC’s policy that all newborn babies delivered at the hospital must use child seats upon discharge.
- During the campaign month, throughout November, newborns delivered at the RPMC will be
given a free child safety seats to ensure a safe trip home.
To ensure the success of this campaign, RPMC is collaborating with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) as co-organizer to assist in the implementation of the campaign and provide technical expertise on the correct use of the child safety seat.
This road safety awareness campaign is not only to instill awareness to the parents and the public in general about the significance of using child safety seats. It also inculcates good riding behaviour while travelling in vehicles that one needs to fasten the seatbelts, both front and rear, while buckling up your own baby.
