Gerakan Youth calls for immediate enforcement of child seats in cars Chai Ko Thing: Make child seats in cars compulsory now (26.4.17)

Gerakan Youth Legal Bureau Chairman cum Bukit Gasing state seat coordinator, Chai Ko Thing called on the government to make child restraint system (CRS) or better known as Child Seat compulsory in the backdrop of another car accident that happened 2 days ago on the North-South Expressway near the Seremban rest area that left a five-year-old died on the spot after thrown out of the car window and three others seriously injured.

In response to the accident, Chai said the implementation of child seats in cars which will only be enforced by 2019 as previously announced by the Transport Ministry, the regulation should be carried forward and enforce immediately. He stressed there is no more excuses on grounds of cost, economy or low level of public awareness as more lives are at risk especially young children after hesitation by authorities to make child safety seats mandatory.

He concurred with president of Malaysian Consumers Association (Maconas) Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill that safety of passengers does not only apply to adults, but should also be applied to infants and children in vehicles, there is urgent need for the government to enforce child seats in cars to reduce the number of road tragedies.

“Statistics by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) in 2015 found that children aged one to four (43.8%) and five to nine (30.2%) are involved in road accidents which is high and the authorities have to do more instead of reacting only after an accident or casualty occurs.”

Chai said if the government is indeed trying to reduce road fatalities and accidents in systems such as Awas or Kejara, then the implementation of child restraint system must not take a backseat but being a top priority. He said Gerakan Youth calls on the government to amend the Road Transport Act 1987 to regulate the use of child restraint system (CRS) in cars and make it mandatory as a countermeasure in preventing road traffic injuries involving children.

“The long wait for the implementation of mandatory child safety seats in cars should be over, the recent number of accidents show that it is imperative for the government to fast track the implementation instead of dragging it to 2019. Safety should take precedence over all other factors such as the cost of manufacturing the seats since adequate awareness campaign has been conducted in the past.”