Parents have been warned to safely buckle their children into safety seats before hitting the road.

 

With a rapid growth in the number of privately owned cars road safety experts are urging parents to use proper child seats and make sure their children are safe and secure so as to avoid unnecessary injuries.

 

At the launch of a publicity campaign promoting child passenger safety on Saturday in Beijing, experts highlighted the fact that 90 percent of Chinese parents don't use child safety seats for their kids.

 

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Peugeot Citroen (China) Automotive Trade Co Ltd and Parents magazine jointly launched the campaign and issued a pamphlet called "Child Passenger Safety" which is being distributed nationwide.

 

"Many injuries can be avoided if parents adopt strict safety measures," said Wang Shengyong, professor of the medical school at Jinan University in Guangzhou.

 

"The chance of child being thrown out of a car increases by six to seven times if parents don't take proper protection measures." said Wang. He added that child safety seats could reduce the chances of fatal injury by 69 percent.

 

According to Wang injuries sustained in car accidents was one of the major causes of death for Chinese children under the age of 14.

 

Eric Song, a bio-mechanic for Psa Peugeot Citroen, said China didn’t have a national standard for these safety seats. Neither did the nation have a law governing child passenger protection.

 

Song said many foreign countries now had laws requiring parents to use child safety seats. For example, in the US state of Illinois, the Child Passenger Protection Act states children under the age of 8 must be secured in an appropriate child restraint system including booster seats.

 

Song urged the government and society as a whole to pay more attention to the issue.

 

"Show our children how much you love them by protecting them in a properly secured safety seat," Song said. "And make a good example by securing yourself with a safety belt."

 

With more and more vehicles on the road accidents pose a serious threat to Chinese children.

 

Statistics released by the Ministry of Public Security show that 7,077 children under the age of 15 were killed in road traffic accidents and 28,016 injured in 2004.

 

Some of the tips offered by the child passenger safety pamphlet include:

 

Put children aged 12 and under in the back seat where they are safest. The front passenger seat is the most dangerous place for them.

 

Do not hold babies in your arms when riding in a car.

 

Do not litter the car with small items as they can become like bullets in a crash.

 

Never leave children alone in a car.

 

Child safety seats should be fixed firmly in the back seat.

 

Check children's belts from time to time as children might learn how to loosen them.

 

(China Daily July 3, 2006)