Kenya has a high proportion of babies, toddlers and young children, many of whom are now part of “motoring” families. So how come so few cars have child-safety seats? Why are they so difficult to find in the shops? Surely these should be universally available and even tax deductible. They are an absolute essential, not a luxury item. –Sam N.
Kenya is knee-deep in babies and toddlers. You might think that child safety seats and belts would be quite a high-profile item. To ensure that no small child ever travelled in a car without a child safety seat and belt, virtually every car on Kenya’s roads would have to be fitted with such equipment.
Plainly, they are not. So why not? After all, child safety seats are super-abundant in parts of the world where motoring is relatively safe, where all drivers are qualified and most are experienced, where families are small, and where the majority of cars meet the newest and highest built-in standards.
Peek into car windows in any car park and you will see dozens fitted with contraptions for tiny people. Watch the streets – every baby or toddler in any vehicle will be strapped in like a miniature astronaut.
Go shopping, and child safety gismos will be displayed in an astonishing number and range of outlets – not just car accessory shops, but in supermarkets, toy shops, furniture stores, bicycle boutiques, and not least in women’s clothes shops.
Come on, parents! And come on, shopkeepers! A baby seat is not an optional extra for any car owner with a young family.
Even on a tight budget, it is the first item you should buy – even before you fill the tank with petrol.
Babies are exceptionally vulnerable in cars. Even the slightest braking or cornering or bump can hurl them about.
In a full accident, they will bounce around the inside of the car like a loose football. For any person less than (at least) a metre tall, a standard seatbelt is not a safety device – it is a garotte.
Ask the doctors at Gertrude’s Garden! Children who have outgrown baby and toddler seats, but are still well under teenage, need at least the simpler “booster” seats to ensure the seatbelt fits across their shoulder and chest, not at neck level.
Most dangerous of all is a toddler on your lap, sharing your seatbelt. In a severe accident, your weight will crush the little person you are trying to keep safe.
If you must travel tot-on-lap, belt yourself in and keep the child outside the belt, wrapped only in your arms.
On any impromptu journey, wear a long-sleeved garment and stuff each of your hands up the opposite sleeve. Then clench your fists.
Better still, go buy a child safety seat. Now.
