Dubai Police giving free car seats to parents to promote child safety

Two children died and 45 sustained serious injuries in car accidents this year

Dubai Police will be handing out free car seats to parents as part of a campaign to promote child safety in the emirate. Pawan Singh / The National

Dubai Police are handing out free car seats to parents as part of a campaign to promote child safety.

It comes after two children died this year, and a further 45 were seriously injured, in 47 traffic accidents.

Child Seat, Safety and Serenity, which launched on Tuesday, will include a series of initiatives to educate parents and caregivers about the correct use of car seats.

Dubai Police has teamed up with Audi, Noon and other partners to provide education on how to use child car seats, how to pick the best seat based on a child's age and weight, and how to install them properly.

Major General Saif Al Mazroui, director of Dubai Police's traffic department, said the force will be distributing free child seats, and other gifts, to parents in the emirate during the campaign.

“Child car seats are a crucial part of ensuring their safety during a car journey. We urge parents to follow the law and prioritise the use of child car seats to protect them,” said Major Gen Al Mazroui.

Recent police figures show that two children died and 45 were seriously injured in 45 traffic accidents in the first 10 months of this year.

The force said they were caused by a lack of care around child car seats and parents allowing children to sit on their laps.

Allowing children under the age of 10, or shorter than 145cm, to sit in the front seat is illegal, Maj Gen Al Mazroui added.

“Parents should provide proper child seats in the back. Putting the child in parents' laps is risky behaviour and endangers the lives of children,” he said.

Child seats reduce the risk by 54 per cent for children and 71 per cent for infants, he added.

“If there was any emergency stop or accident, the child's body will hit the interior parts of the vehicle or get thrown out of the car.”

Under UAE Federal Traffic Law, every person in a vehicle is legally required to wear a seat belt at all times, regardless of age.

A child under four must travel in a car seat.

Drivers who allow children to sit in the front seats of vehicles face Dh400 fines.

A growing issue

Thomas Edelmann, managing director of Road Safety UAE, said three waves of research were conducted with YouGov between 2017 and 2021 with more than 1,000 people.

“It was a shocking result as about one third of parents do not own the required car child seats for different reasons, such as they don't know which child seat to buy, or their kids don't like to be strapped in, or the child seats are too expensive,” Mr Edelmann told The National.

“Two thirds of parents who do own proper child car seats do not always ask their children to buckle up. It is unbelievable.”

He welcomes Dubai Police's new campaign to boost awareness among parents, as they are the key stakeholders and influencers.

“We need to strengthen the element of enforcement, for example, around schools and kindergartens. We need a mandatory newborn hospital discharge policy in place, as a federal law,” he said.

The responsibility lies with the parents, Mr Edelmann added, as they have to establish the proper safety habits from birth onwards.

“It is important that the parents make sure that seat belts are not running across the child's neck, as a collision and the forward forces might strangle the child,” he said.