Seat belts have been standard equipment in cars in most countries since the 1950s. Child-safety seats have been around almost as long. Both devices have proved their worth beyond any doubt.
So it is disturbing that so many people in the UAE have still not got the message, and that ignorance is taking such a toll, especially among young people and children.
Beefed-up legislation to address this issue, and more robust enforcement of existing law, will be part of the solution, but there also is a whole other element to this problem, one that society, more than government, will have to apply.
The numbers amassed by researchers at UAE University in Al Ain, reported by The National yesterday, would be shocking it they were not so predictable: of 170 drivers and passengers under age 19 killed or injured badly enough to need a hospital stay during a 17-month period, only three were wearing seat belts at the time of their accidents. In not one of the 170 injuries studied was a child-restraint seat in use.
Seat belt use has been compulsory for the UAE’s drivers and front-seat passengers since 1999. Child-restraint seats are not yet mandatory, but children under 10 are banned from the front seat and there have been numerous safety campaigns. And yet a public-opinion survey, also reported in this newspaper yesterday, said 17 per cent of adults admit that they think children do not always need to be restrained.
No UAE figures are available, but statistics from elsewhere have convinced the World Health Organisation and many governments: restraints greatly reduce deaths and injuries, especially for children.
Compulsory child restraints would be welcome, but passing a law does not solve a problem by itself. Enforcing the existing seat-belt law is notoriously difficult.
What can bring about speedy change in the direction of safety, however, is social, rather than official, pressure.
Unsought counsel can, of course, be seen as meddling, and a diplomatic approach is always wise. But the minority who are still unaware of the merits of seat belts need to learn.
The African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” applies here: it takes anxious grandparents, concerned neighbours, worried in-laws, apprehensive teachers, and many others to remind parents, and all drivers, of the wisdom of seat belts.
