ALMOST ONE-THIRD of parents are putting the lives of their children at risk by failing to restrain them in car seats while driving, according to a new study.
Doctors from the department of paediatrics at Sligo General Hospital, who conducted the research, say the finding is “shocking” and some form of urgent intervention is required to address the risk.
They suggest subsidising the cost of appropriate restraints such as baby seats and booster cushions to increase their use as well as a frank advertising campaign to increase awareness of the dangers of carrying children unrestrained in cars.
Giving parents of the children a leaflet devised by the Road Safety Authority on proper use of restraints made no difference, the researchers found.
In fact, the parents’ use of restraints in cars decreased slightly in the months that followed this intervention.
In all, the parents of nearly 400 children aged from birth to 14 years who attended the hospital's outpatient department were surveyed for the research, which appears in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal.
Almost 30 per cent of the children were found to be travelling with no safety restraints. The parents who were given the leaflets were followed up two months later and use of restraints by them had actually declined by a further 1.3 per cent at that stage.
“The lack of consistency for the approach to placing their children in safety restraints while travelling was astounding with some families restraining some children and not others, and changing their practice within a period of two months,” the authors state.
“The lack of compliance of parents with children under the age of one year is appalling and this decreased on follow up,” they added.
Reasons cited by parents for not using restraints included lack of knowledge about their use; too many other passengers in the car; difficulty installing or using booster seats; child resistance; inconvenience; and cost.
Brian Farrell, communications manager with the safety authority, said it was an offence to carry a child in a car without ensuring they were appropriately restrained. Penalty points were the only answer, he said, and thousands of drivers have already received points for this offence.
He said another problem was retailers selling car seats but not knowing how to fit them and parents were buying them off shelves based on their colour rather than their fit. “If you are a parent don’t buy from a retailer who is not prepared to fit the child seat in the car to ensure its compatible with the car and that it’s compatible with the child,” he advised.