Awareness, usage, and need for child car seat education in developing countries: a case study of Pakistan

Conference paper (2018)

Authors

Amna Chaudhry University of Engineering and Technology Lahore
Irum Sanaullah University of Engineering and Technology Lahore
Bilal Z. Malik University of Engineering and Technology Lahore
Ashfaq A. Klair National Highway and Motorway Police
Affiliation
External organisation
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

2018

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Affiliation

External organisation

Abstract

Children in developing countries are exposed to greater risk of fatality, serious injury, or disability, during road travel due to lack of awareness and absence of laws on children road safety measures such as the use of child restraints in vehicles. In most of the developing countries, it is not required by law, to use child car seats and therefore are rarely used. Research studies have been repeatedly showing significant efficacy of child car seats, if properly used, in preventing serious injuries and fatalities in young children during road accidents, due to restraining the children occupants against the ejection from the vehicle.

Like many other developing countries, there is currently no legislation, in Pakistan, mandating the use of child car seats. Children exposure to traffic and risk of being involved in a traffic accident have been greatly increased in the country, over the past few years, due to increased number of vehicles, vehicle fleet, and trend of pre-schools and day care facilities. However, the awareness of parents regarding importance of safely traveling with infants and young children has not increased. Qualified and affluent parents have also been observed showing negligence in using the car child seats for their children.

In this context, the objectives of this study were to investigate the level of awareness and usage of child car seats in Pakistan as well as to explore the need and interventions for conducting effective awareness campaigns or educational programs for parents in the country. Total 214 vehicles with children occupants and 385 children were observed at several schools, day-care centers, and pediatric departments in hospitals within 3 cities of Pakistan.