The latest survey finds that less than 1 percent of families in China insist on using a child seat every time they go driving with the children.

When asked about why they don't use the safety seat, a mother from northeast China's Liaoning Province says they are usually used only when driving on the expressway.

"I think it depends on where we are going. If it's a highway journey then I would put the child-seat in the back. If I just drive him home from the kindergarten, I would not use the seat"

According to the People's Daily, in recent year, more than 18 thousand children under the age of 14 died in traffic accidents annually, which is the number-one cause of death for children that age.

Ji Yuan, a traffic cop from Shenyang city, says another reason many parents give for not using child-safety-seats is that they have confidence in their driving skills.

However he points out that safety seats still are considered as one of the most important protective measures for traffic accidents today.

"Parents should not take a chance. It doesn't matter if it is a highway journey or a short city drive. Since you have bought a child-safety seat, you should make good use of it in order to ensure the safety of your child."

The lack of a national law on children's safety in vehicles is believed to be a significant factor in the low usage of safety seats.

At the moment, only Shanghai and Shandong have introduced such regulations.

Meanwhile, the quality of child seats is also being taken seriously by officials.

Sun Huichuan with the national quality inspection bureau says there will be better supervision to ensure product quality for child safety seats.

"Safety seats are specifically included in the state supervisory sampling inspection of product quality this year. For the next step, we will start the random inspection of the safety seats from both online and offline retailers. On one hand, we will expose all the unqualified brands to the public; while on the other hand, the involved companies will be shut down until they are able to produce qualified products."

Starting in September this year, child safety seats entering the market will be required with China Compulsory Certification, which will further ensure children's safety in a moving car.

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