Gasgoo.com (Shanghai February 20) - Less than one percent of Chinese drivers use car safety seats for their children, chinanews.com reported today, citing a study appearing in the Blue Book of Auto Society.
According to the Blue Book's author Chen Hui, 75.66 percent of Chinese automobiles do not have safety seats placed in them. 39.95 percent of drivers allow young children to sit in the front passenger seat, while 43.12 percent of drivers allow them to be held by other passengers. 10.05 percent of drivers believe that standard airbags are sufficient enough to protect young children, a viewpoint which, in Dr. Hui's words, "may lead to serious consequences." Dr. Hui further points out that low child safety seat usage is the primary reason young children are harmed in car accidents.
Dr. Hui gives the following example to discourage drivers from allowing passengers to hold their children while operating a vehicle. When a vehicle being driven at 48 mph comes to an abrupt stop, a seven kg infant will be pushed forward with a force equivalent to 275 kg. An adult would have no way to keep the infant in place.
Furthermore, Dr. points out that the force of an airbag hitting a child's skull is potentially fatal. In any case, strapping a child to a safety seat greatly reduces the risk of injury.
When asked what causes are behind low child safety usage rates, Dr. Hui mentions poor legal standards and lack of widespread knowledge on the issue. He points to statistics that show that the fatality rate for children under 14 years of age involved in traffic accidents in China is 2.5 times higher than Europe and 2.6 times higher than the US.
