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-   -   Child Safety, and SAFE driving on Indian Roads (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/96036-child-safety-safe-driving-indian-roads-3.html)

Thats a good light one! Jokes apart we were discussing child seats. Lot of research has been done on this and articles published in medical journals. Even today, many university students have this aspect as their thesis topics!

One because as you said, it makes us dizzy and what not. But it will also be rude to the driver. As you know, rear seats are safer, but one sits in rear seat (leaving front passenger seat unoccupied) only when it's chauffeur driven. Otherwise it will be very rude to the person driving. And cars are not made keeping chauffeur driven in mind.

Now that's another aspect, which is pretty relevant. Children do go out on road for a household errand or visit a friend nearby or go to school on foot if it is in the neighborhood.

Best solution is if you accompany your child - always. Difficult? Make sure you tell them about the danger points on the roads. It's important they realize they are responsible for their own safety when you aren't around.

Educate your child not just by telling them but by showing them the hazards on the roads. If they walk to school, make sure you do the walk with them until they (and you) are comfortable that you have identified the best places to walk, cross and where to look out for blind spots. You can do the same for the park, shops etc until you're sure they've got the message.

It's also worth remembering that if the traffic can't see them, it may be too late by the time they do. Children wearing lighter shades of colour are more visible! There are also some great reflective products on the market now. Clothes can be customized with fluorescent designs or stickers. Shoes should always have reflective designs. Make sure your child is not walking the streets in slippers.

To add to it, infants cannot really focus their eyes. So the feeling of motion sickness due to movement does not arise. :)

@rkap01: brilliant thread. Good to see focused discussions on safety issues. I have a question here, from what you have mentioned in the OP, it seems that children over seven years can occupy adult seats (with seat belts fastened of course). Is this right? or is there some other height/ weight criteria beyond which you don't need child seats?

Different countries have different rules. Boosters seats are used beyond 4 years and can be continued till 7-8 years depending on the weight a booster seat can take in a legal sense. Children smaller in height may continue on booster seat till 9-10. Once the adult seat belt fits well on your child without the booster seat; it is time to shift away from the booster seat!

It's great to see an enlightened discussion on this topic. At least there are some amongst us that realize the need to place young children in special seats. However, one does get an impression by looking at road users that they are not aware of some of these dangers. In Delhi, you can routinely see small kids seated on the front seat, with no seat belt. Worse are some parents that put kids on their lap between themselves and the steering while driving.
Imho, manufacturers need to start playing a more active role in educating users of the need for correct seating. This also needs to be backed up by proper enforcement by the Traffic Police.

This is a very useful link for US residents regarding child restraints and rules pertaining to each state.

Child Restraint Laws

I think some child seats are also allowed on the long haul airplanes to be used as boosters during the flight. IIRC, one of us bhpians was planning on getting the car seat in the flight, but it has to be FAA approved. You should check the other thread on child car seats (sorry, too lazy to provide the link!) If not, you can also check them in, or just ship it directly to India (cheaper than check in). Please check with your airline.
more than the prices in India, the variety of car seats was a bit limited, but I think Shoppers stop have some good products

Certain countries rules recommends using a seat belt adapter when a child outgrows the booster seat and begins using seat belts.
Seat belt adapters attach to the seat belt and position the seat belt straps to fit your child’s size. Adapters do not protect children as well as booster seats because they do not raise children to the height at which seat belts are the most effective.
Strangely in Canada, belt adapter is not recommended!

Correct use of adult seat belt:
Lap belts should fit low and snug over the hips, never the stomach. The shoulder strap should cross the shoulder, never the face or neck.

A child can start using a seat-belt alone once any one of the following criteria is met:

• child weighs 36 kg (80 lb.)
• child is 145 cm (4 feet-9 inches) tall.

This picture shows when your child is ready to sit without a booster seat in the vehicle.

These pictures demonstrates the correct and wrong use of seat belts

Its true in all the cities. Public awareness about safe driving needs to be reinforced by TV and radio ads. However no authority is bothered about these mundane issues. There are lot of aspects about motoring in India, which needs to be drastically changed - issuing of driving license, putting down traffic rules into a book; mandatory written and driving tests; proper facilities for issuing of licenses and registrations; maintainance of pavements and roads, making sure there are marked slots for parking for all type of vehicles, removal of street hawkers into pre-designated areas and much more!

I attach a pdf brochure about seat belts and children. It is quite descriptive with good illustrations. I hope and pray that all forum readers convert quickly and install child restraints!

1. Why do you need a seatbelt?
For holding you tight in an accident. It doesn't feel good to have your parts hitting the inside parts of a car.

2. Where does most seatbelts hold you?
On the chest and the hips.

3. That means your head is thrown forward in case of a head-on collision?
Yes. The seat belt 'holds back' your chest and hips, but your head is thrown forward because nothing holds it back.

4. Does that mean that your neck would break in such a case?
The only thing that holds the head from going forward in this case, is your neck. If your neck is not able to withstand the force of the foward moving head, your neck would break (spinal injury - paralysis for life!).
That means more the speed, more the risk of breaking your neck in an accident, even if you wear seatbelts.

5. No other way to protect your neck?
Yes, if you have an airbag along with seatbelts. The seat belt holds your body from going forward, and the airbag prevents your head from going forward, thus saving your neck from breaking.

6. What if you don't wear seatbelts? Won't the airbags save you?
You are supposed to hit an airbag only after it fully inflates. If you are in the path of the airbag during its inflation, the airbag would hit you and break your neck (Remember, most airbags deploy fully in 60 milli seconds, so that's a lot of speed). If you don't wear a seatbelt, you have a high chance of being in the path of an inflating airbag because most drivers brake heavily just before an accident (throwing the occupants forward).
Also, the airbag is designed for single use, and deflates immediately after full inflation. If your vehicle doesn't stop after the first collision, you won't have the airbag to protect you for further hits.
Wear your seatbelts always!

7. What if you have no seatbelts, and no airbags?
Well, no one talks ill of the dead.

8. Should child seats be forward facing or rear facing?
Children's neck are not as strong as an adult's neck.
Forward facing children (with seatbelts) need to travel at a lot lesser speed than adults, to be able to withstand the pressure on their necks in case of a head on collision.
Of course you can use an airbag to prevent the neck from breaking. But I would prefer a rear-facing child-seat at the back of the car, than to trust an airbag that would deploy on to my kid's nose.
It doesn't hurt to keep your kid in a rear-facing child-seat at the back of your car, for as long as possible!

9. What if I am rear-ended? Won't rear-facing seats be a disadvantage then?
Chances of rear-ending are far less than that of a head-on collision, and the forces (with which you are thrown inside) are also far less.