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.
We urge parents to follow the law and prioritise the use of child car seats to protect them
Major General Saif Al Mazroui,
director of traffic department, Dubai Police
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.
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.
WOMAN AND CHILD
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
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ABU%20DHABI'S%20KEY%20TOURISM%20GOALS%3A%20BY%20THE%20NUMBERS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
