farook

Your kid deserves all the love and care from you, without being ignorant or inconsiderate while driving your car. It is after all for the safety of your baby, where you as a parent decide where your kid gonna sit, how he or she sits, whether the kiddo is buckled up and safe to ride with you...all these matter. And ‘Never on your lap’ is a golden rule to remember. According to last year reports, in 2014, a child died every week in UAE road accidents, and in most cases it was as a result of their parents failing to buckle them up. Studies have also shown and accidents have proven that wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death or serious injuries by 40-65 percent on the front seats, but when it comes to your little ones, if not properly buckled up in child seat, this figure goes up to 80 percent. Damn. Although there is no law yet regarding child car seat in UAE. However, there is a law for not letting the kids under the age of 10 in front seat and doing so will invite a fine of Dhs 400 and 4 traffic black points. Similar law to this is in proposal stage for a child seat and also Dubai police highly recommend using appropriate child seat as per the age and height of the kids. Drivers failing to buckle up a child in an appropriate child seat may face the charge of endangering a person's life. If your loved one is less than one year old, he or she should be seated in a child car seat while if your child is six-nine months old or weighing under 10 kgs, he or she should be put in rear-facing child car seat, which should rest at a 45-degree angle and the seat belt should not move more than 2.5 cm. The chest clip of the seat should be near your baby’s chest at armpit level. And if your kid is nine months to four years of age and weighing 9 kgs -18 kgs, seats can face forward for the children. You could refer the car manual to install it properly. The shoulder straps should be near or below the child’s shoulders with a gap that allows one finger between the strap and chest. Grown up children, in the age group of four to six years of age and weighing 15 kgs - 25 kgs, can have the luxury of seat boosters at the back seat. Support cushions can be used for children in the age group of 6 years -11 years and weighing 22kg-36kg. Ensure to use the lap and shoulder combination belt so that your child’s head is supported by the top of the booster. Children over these age and weight groups can be buckled up in the seat belts provided in the car. Do not let your child sit on the lap of other passengers or the driver and never ever leave the child alone in the car.