Only two per cent of the population are buckling their children into car seats or strapping them in with a safety belt, according to a UAE University study.
The study, done in 2008, found that almost a quarter of children ride in the front seat of a car, which is illegal. Children under 10 must sit in the back seat.
"If this law was enforced, it would prevent mothers from holding children on their laps in the front seat." said Dr Jens Thomsen, section head of occupational and environmental health at the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (Haad).
And if mothers knew that "it doesn't require a big accident, severe crash or excessive speeding for the baby they are holding to be killed, then they would stop assuming that their arms or lap is the safest place for their child", said Dr Reem Al Ameria, the senior officer of health promotion at Haad's public health and policy department.
Dr Thomsen and Dr Al Ameria have made it their mission to educate nurses, doctors and health educators in hospitals across Abu Dhabi emirate, in the hope that every parent will know that using a car seat and belt is the best option for a child.
"If the car crashes when driving at a mere 50kph, just multiply the weight of the baby by that speed and you get the force at which they will be ejected from the car," Dr Al Ameria said.
A baby weighing 3kg, she said, would be equivalent to 150kg at impact, and would crash through the windshield.
"There is no way a mother can hold on to that baby," she said. "Parents are just not aware of how dangerous it can be. They just lack education."
As a public health agency, Haad is also working to educate the community, with the hope that once a law is in place - expected by the end of the year - the population will understand why it is necessary to adhere to it.
"We have 2,500 free car seats ready to give out to parents of newborns at maternity wards of all the major public hospitals in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and the Western Region," Dr Thomsen said. "But before we distribute them blindly, we want to make sure these seats will be used, and correctly."
Haad is training doctors and nurses in the maternity and neonatology wards of nine hospitals, to instruct parents on the proper use of car seats.
"We don't want to just hand out the seat and then have a parent stop using it because the car is full of people or because the child is cranky and doesn't want to be restrained," said Dr Al Ameria.
Traffic accidents have been the leading cause of death among UAE children up to age 17 for the past three years, she said.
"We need to familiarise parents with the car seat as a product: why they need it, what happens when they don't use it, why it should face the rear of the car for the first few years of a child's life, why it has to be upgraded as the child grows, and so on," Dr Al Ameria said.
A rear-facing car seat, for example, is the safest option for young children. It has a harness and in a crash, cradles and moves with the child to reduce the stress to the fragile neck and spine. Dr Al Ameria said many parents are not aware of this.
Once Haad's campaign launches, the seats will be distributed to parents of newborns, but the campaign is intended to make every parent aware of the issue.
"At the end of the day, it will be the parents who are expected to purchase the seat because it is not sustainable for the government to provide seats for children of all ages, which is why we need to get the community to understand the importance," Dr Thomsen said.
Haad is looking into a policy that would make it mandatory for maternity wards to ensure children leave the hospital in a car seat.
"At the very least, we can make it mandatory for the hospital to provide education and information to the parents, so they can understand the need themselves," he said.
Once parents understand that using car seats can save their child's lives, convincing them should not be a difficult task, said Dr Al Ameria.
"We buy all sorts of things for our children. Why not pay the small amount of money to get them something that is guaranteed to protect them?"
hkhalaf@thenational.ae
Company%20profile
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The%20Specs
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Abu Dhabi race card
5pm: Maiden (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
6pm: Liwa Oasis (PA) Group 2 | Dh300,000 | 1,400m
6.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-2 (PA) Group 3 | Dh300,000 | 2,200m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap | Dh70,000 | 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) | Dh80,000 | 2,200m
The%20specs%3A%20Panamera%20Turbo%20E-Hybrid
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The%20specs%3A%202024%20Panamera
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Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Company%20Profile
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What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
Getting%20there
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
LUKA CHUPPI
Director: Laxman Utekar
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Cinema
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurana
Rating: 3/5
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Valladolid v Osasuna (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Valencia v Athletic Bilbao (5pm), Getafe v Sevilla (7.15pm), Huesca v Alaves (9.30pm), Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Real Sociedad v Eibar (5pm), Real Betis v Villarreal (7.15pm), Elche v Granada (9.30pm), Barcelona v Levante (midnight)
Monday Celta Vigo v Cadiz (midnight)
Kill%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Nikhil%20Nagesh%20Bhat%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Lakshya%2C%20Tanya%20Maniktala%2C%20Ashish%20Vidyarthi%2C%20Harsh%20Chhaya%2C%20Raghav%20Juyal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.5%2F5%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
The five pillars of Islam