Kenya has a high proportion of infants and toddlers, many of whom are now part of “car-owning” households. So why are so few cars equipped with child safety seats? Why are they so hard to find in stores? Surely these seats should be available to everyone and even tax deductible. They are a necessity, not a luxury item. –Sam N.
Kenya has a huge shortage of infants and young children. One might think that child seats and seat belts are a very important item. To ensure that no young child travels in a car without a child seat and seat belt, almost every car on Kenya’s roads should be equipped with such equipment.
Obviously not. Why not? After all, child safety seats are most prevalent in parts of the world where driving is relatively safe, where all drivers are qualified and mostly experienced, where families are small, and where most cars meet the latest and highest safety standards.
If you peek into the windows of any car in a parking lot, you’ll see dozens of them equipped with baby harnesses. Look out on the streets—every infant or toddler in any vehicle will be strapped in like a miniature astronaut.
Go shopping and you will find child safety equipment on display in a surprising number of outlets – not just in car accessory stores, but in supermarkets, toy stores, furniture stores, bicycle stores and not least women’s clothing stores.
Come on parents! Come on dealers! A child seat is not an optional extra for any car owner with a young family.
Even if you’re on a budget, it’s the first thing you should buy – even before you fill up your tank.
Children are exceptionally vulnerable in cars. Even the slightest braking, turning or bump can send them flying everywhere.
In a full-blown accident, these belts will bounce around inside the car like a football. And for anyone under 1 meter (3 feet) tall (at least), a standard seat belt is not a safety device – it’s a chokehold.
Ask the doctors at Gertrude Park! Children who have outgrown toddler seats, but are still under the age of teens, need at least simpler “booster” seats that ensure the seat belt fits across the shoulder and chest, not across the neck.
The most dangerous thing is having a small child on your lap, sharing a seat belt with you. In the event of a serious accident, your weight will crush the small child you are trying to protect.
If you must travel with your baby on your lap, fasten the seat belt and keep the baby outside the belt, wrapped in your arms only.
On any impromptu trip, wear a long-sleeved dress and push your hands into the opposite sleeve. Then make fists.
You better go and buy a child safety seat now.