Have you ever ever puzzled what number of youngsters’s lives are saved in automobile crashes by way of a accurately fitted automobile seat within the UK?
In our line of labor, we’d like to know the reply too – however wouldn’t it shock you to know that it isn’t truly recorded?
Following a street visitors collision and relying on its severity, a file of what they discover can be taken by the Police – that is also known as a Stats 19 type.
This type varies barely from Police Pressure to Police Pressure, nevertheless it will embody info like:
It could then ask the age of the casualties and even higher the date of start, it could even ask the place they had been sat within the car.
However with reference to seatbelt utilization it could solely ask:
And if that’s the case, was this independently confirmed ( in different phrases did the passenger declare they had been sporting it, and another person can verify this!) or is it truly unknown in the event that they had been sporting a seatbelt in any respect?
IT DOES NOT ASK…
Does make you surprise why not, doesn’t it?
Sadly, we actually don’t have a solution to this, solely hypothesis. However what we do know is that this doesn’t assist us persuade the media, the powers that be and fogeys how vital a baby seat is in saving lives.
It additionally implies that generally media hype, myths and assumptions may be created based mostly on half an image.
Frequent and frequent headlines state that
This sounds critical, however if you see the fuller image, these headlines are based mostly on the info taken from the UK’s Division for Transports statistics, that are collated from the Stats 19 type, (which don’t file sufficient data’ within the first place).
Nevertheless, this knowledge additionally teams all little one street customers collectively …..
While you break this down, youngsters injured or killed simply in autos is on common about 39% of this whole determine.
It additionally teams all youngsters from start to fifteen years. So that may embody younger individuals aged 12 upwards, who by regulation, wouldn’t want a baby seat and doesn’t exclude these concerned in unlawful actions.
Please don’t get us mistaken, any toddler, little one or younger particular person killed, significantly injured and even simply barely injured on our roads isn’t good. However in an effort to examine the UK’s perspective in direction of automobile seat duty and behavior in opposition to different international locations and doubtlessly be taught from what they do, wants us to check the identical knowledge. If the 45 Police forces within the UK don’t file all the identical knowledge, how can we examine our casualty statistics to different international locations?
So if you learn that different international locations have higher little one security scores than us, ask your self what’s that declare based mostly on? For instance, plenty of international locations don’t have roundabouts, so they’ll have much less aspect impression collisions than maybe we do. They may have smaller populations, fewer autos, decrease velocity limits, totally different street visitors legal guidelines.
Primarily based on what we do have and also you begin to measure like for like, we’re truly doing good! Not Nice – in any other case we’d don’t have any accidents in any respect – however we’ re undoubtedly doing good!
Please watch out what you learn, particularly on guardian to guardian boards earlier than you comply with another person’s recommendation as it could not at all times be appropriate or based mostly on reliable information.
At Baby Seat Security, we’ve been collating and finding out our automobile seat checks for a few years and we began extra just lately to particularly break down the findings to ascertain if it was simply the kid that was fitted accurately into their seat, however the seat was fitted in to the automobile mistaken, or was it simply the seat that was fitted accurately and the kid wasn’t? or was it each little one and seat are fitted incorrectly.
We don’t simply cease there as a result of we additionally file when there was no seat getting used after they legally wanted one and 30 + different faults that we generally see. These outcomes come from our Group examine occasions in addition to Police enforcement occasions, the place its not an choice to have the seat checked, it’s by request of the Cops stopping the car and due to this fact this provides us an excellent cross part of the inhabitants and a sensible overview of automobile seat utilization within the UK.
We’re beginning to see an enchancment in the best way automobile seats are being fitted, due to the intuitive designs, higher directions, good coaching and publicity. That is nice information, however we nonetheless must see a better enchancment in what number of youngsters are incorrectly fitted of their seats, so that is the place we can be addressing our work sooner or later.
In every single place you look on social media statistics are quoted and might scare us, twist the reality or present old-fashioned and incorrect comparisons, However then absolutely it may be used for some great things? Together with these bits of knowledge which are suggestions and life hacks that can assist preserve our kids protected.
So your problem this week is to unfold a useful automobile seat message. Select one (or extra) of the next and share it in your social media
Don’t transfer your little one up too quickly, little one automobile seats work finest when a baby fills the seat! Bear in mind ‘Comfortable is sweet! ‘ #snugisgood
Most crashes occur near dwelling – each journey must be protected and safe. #alwaysandeveryjourney
Match it proper and maintain them tight – Baby automobile seats save lives. #pinchtest
Drive protected, keep protected
Julie Dagnall
Director – Baby Seat Security Ltd
