CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY MONTH: REFLECTING ON THE PAST YEAR
CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY MONTH: REFLECTING ON THE PAST YEAR
Child Passenger Safety Month is once again upon us and is an important time to raise awareness about the safety of children on the road.
As we know, road-related incidents are the number one killer of children worldwide, disproportionately impacting low- to middle-income countries more heavily. In order to enact change, ourselves and other organisations need to amplify the voices of our communities to rally for change in regulations, practices and education, to minimise the number of children who die in preventable road incidents.
A big issue we have examined this year has been around school transport safety. We also collaborated with African Brain Child who do valuable research into Traumatic Brain Injuries and the impact that they have on children. As always, we have also campaigned endlessly for proper car seat usage and provided many families with car seats for their young passengers. In this article, we would like to reflect on these topics, how they have helped and where there is space for change and growth.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF RISKS TO CHILD ROAD USERS
Children are our most vulnerable road users, whether they are passengers or pedestrians. Without proper safety in place, millions of children die on our roads from incidents that could have been prevented.
An impactful way to keep your child safe in a car is to make use of a car seat or other forms of age-appropriate child restraint systems. Earlier this year, we wrote an article about the myths regarding safe car seat usage. It is imperative that all children are restrained in a vehicle with a car seat that is suitable for their age-weight range. It is equally important that car seats are both maintained and correctly installed, so that it can protect your child in the way it was designed to. This can greatly reduce the chance of injury or fatality in the event of a crash. And always, always “be quick to click” and buckle up your passengers, young and old. Car crashes also account for the highest portion of Traumatic Brain Injuries in children. TBIs, if not fatal, can leave children with lifelong physical and mental challenges, drastically changing the course of their lives.
Many children in South Africa rely on public transport to get to and from school. However, a great number of children are left having to walk to school. This exposes children to many risks, one of which is pedestrian safety. Our small pedestrians are less visible to vehicles and unattended by adults, are less capable of being safe around roads.
Unregulated public transport remains a huge problem in South Africa where many children are killed in crashes getting to and from school. WIthout dedicated and regulated school transport, there is little standardisation when it comes to safe drivers, roadworthy vehicles and the safe and correct loading of children into vehicles.
SCHOOL TRANSPORT SAFETY MUST BE CHANGED
This year we have spoken about the dire need for better regulations for school transport. Unfortunately, shortly after our last article on the topic, more school children were injured or killed on our roads in several separate incidents, a few weeks apart.
One crash bore an eerie similarity to the Blackheath train incident that we covered in our article. A train struck a school bus in Middelburg after the allegedly drunk driver failed to stop at a crossing. Six children were killed, while 19 more were hospitalised. Much like the Blackheath train incident, “human error” was cited as the reason for this crash. How much “human error” can we prevent with better regulations? With professional drivers who are specifically certified to carry children? Or with the safety of students being a priority. According to an article by The Citizen, Thulasizwe Thomo, MEC of Public Works, Roads & Transport at the funeral of the deceased children “urged school bus drivers not to get behind the wheel when they are tired or under the influence.” This comment should fill us all with rage and frustration. It is not enough to “urge” drivers to manage themselves, when there exists a systemic problem in our school transport regulations for which children are paying the price.
On the same day as the memorial service for the learners who died in the school bus-train crash, seven school children who were walking home from school were struck by a vehicle. Thankfully the children survived, however they all sustained injuries.
In another incident, a bakkie, a truck and a school bus crashed on account of unsafe overtaking of vehicles. This serves as another aspect of school transport that must be changed – stricter regulations that dictate how other road users should safely navigate school buses on our roads.
Under similar circumstances, in Carltonville, a Ford Ranger rear-ended a minibus taxi causing it to roll and catch fire, killing 11 children and the driver, “burnt beyond recognition”.
Wheel Well founder, Peggie Mars was invited to comment on the Carltonville crash on Newzroom Afrika.
Mars: not enough done to ensure scholar transport safety
Hopefully, under the GNU we will see school transport subsidised and better regulated to ensure the safety of learners. Until change is made, we will continue to spread awareness and campaign for safer roads.
AFRICAN BRAIN CHILD AND WHEEL WELL COLLABORATION
In August, we collaborated with African Brain Child with a shared passion in reducing the cases of Traumatic Brain Injuries in children. Together we put out the call to our audiences for car seat donations to distribute to families who otherwise may not be able to afford them. You can read more about TBIs and African Brain Child’s work in our August article here.
We are happy to announce that we have secured a 100 car seat donation for our Cape Town event. If you family is in need of a car seat, or have one to donate, we are doing a handout with African Brain Child on 26th October at Supa Quick Constantia.
If you have an old car seat gathering dust, consider donating it at your nearest Supa Quick store and Wheel Well will have it cleaned up and fixed for a child who will become safer on our roads.
HALO BEANIES
In response to the previously mentioned road incident where a vehicle collided with seven children in Mpumulanga, we arranged for the donation of our Halo Beanies to the school to which the pupils belonged. Halo Beanies are beanies that are knitted with a high-visibility reflective strip that helps make children more visible to vehicles.
The Halo Beanies project is only possible through the help and support of our community – whether through the donation of Beanie Packs containing materials, or through volunteer knitters. If this is a project you would like to get involved in, get in contact with us.
THE FUTURE OF CHILD ROAD SAFETY IN SOUTH AFRICA
To end on a positive note, we are happy to hear that the RTMC (Road Traffic Management Corporation) will be launching Project EDWARD (Every Day Without A Road Death) in South Africa. This was originally an award-winning UK-based campaign that aimed to reduce the number of deaths on the road. They promote an evidence-led safe system approach which minimises the risk of death and fatality on account of traffic.
The 5 key components:
- Safe Roads – Safety-conscious road planning, design and engineering
- Safe Vehicles – Promoting vehicles with collision avoidance & injury mitigation systems
- Safe Speeds – Managing speeds to crash survival levels
- Safe Road Users – Deterring dangerous behaviour and ensuring compliance: education & enforcement
- Post-Crash Response – Fast and efficient emergency medical help, diagnosis and care
RTMC will also be working closely with road safety NPOs to facilitate Project EDWARD, allowing us to have a voice in the changes made.
The safety of children on our roads is a continuous battle for change. In honour of Child Passenger Safety Month, we urge you to get involved either through donations, support or awareness. At the very least, buckle up your kids and keep them safe.