KKH said on Tuesday that a study of 1,483 children and adolescents with road traffic injuries found that more than half were not in a child car seat at the time of the incident.
A second study on the use of child car seats and restraints revealed that among parents and caregivers, there was a lack of knowledge in the installation and proper use of car seats and restraints.
They also doubted the importance or effectiveness of such seats, and cited inconvenience and high cost as some of the reasons for not using child car restraints despite it being mandated by law.
“This initiative is designed to provide families with the knowledge, resources, and support to ensure their child’s safety on the road,” said Dr Tan.
“We want to lay a strong foundation for a safer environment that ensures a child’s safety and well-being from infancy through adulthood.”
The programme, supported by the Traffic Police and in partnership with Komoco Motors and Mothercare, will benefit about 300 newborns in the first year, KKH said.
The hospital sees the birth of about 30 to 35 babies each day on average, KKH added in response to CNA queries.
To encourage participants to continue to use age-appropriate car restraints as the child grows, the parents will be offered a subsidy towards their next child car seat purchase, upon returning the loaned seat.
Dr Tan, who also chairs the KKH Injury Prevention Working Group, said that as car seats are specifically designed to accommodate to a child’s size and weight, it is for parents to transition their child to the appropriate car seat as their children grow.
“Children are required to use child car restraints until they are 1.35m tall. Typically, this means using a rear-facing car seat for the first two years, a forward-facing seat from ages two to five, and a booster seat with seatbelt from age five and up,” said Dr Tan.
The KKH Newborn Car Seat Programme is one of the efforts of the KKH Injury Prevention Working Group, which collaborates closely with the National Trauma Committee and other stakeholders on measures to reduce the incidence of preventable injuries in the paediatric population.
