Hmm, why isn’t the number eight represented as IIX in Roman numerals? It takes less characters…
Anyway, this will probably be the penultimate Suggestions for Kazakhstan post for a while, and it is on children in cars. As the law dictates that only those sitting in the front should have to wear belts (and even that is only fairly recently legislated (or perhaps enforced?)), you hardly ever see anyone wearing seatbelts in the back of a car. If the idea of trying to force adult Astanites to also wear belts when not sat in the front seems laughable to the authorities, could we at least have something passed, or enforced if such legislation already exists in writing, that children sat in the back should be seat belted and in a car seat if necessary?
Some sort of government information scheme is definitely required, at the very least to prevent motorists whining about being unaware/ignorant of the dangers of free roaming, jumping and distracting kids in a moving car, and also that air bags will cause damage or even death if inflated with a child sitting on the relevant part of the dashboard. Yes, in case you didn’t read my tweet regarding this last(?) year, I saw a mother sat in the front of a modern car, holding her baby over the dashboard, right where the airbag would shoot out from should a shunt occur. It is bad enough thinking that you can seriously hold safely onto a child in a 30mph or more crash, but to actually put them into so much extra danger makes me want to scream.
Apr 27 2010
April 27th, 2010 7:44 pm
I see kids all the time in the back seat standing right in the middle of the car, between the two front seats, leaning forward to watch what’s going on. Now American kids like to do that too but usually parents realize that if the car does stop suddenly, something that happens upon occasion in Astana, the kid will be like a rocket shooting straight through the windshield.
April 27th, 2010 8:33 pm
True, some of the government safety adverts in Britain are pretty hard hitting and graphic, but I can’t help wondering if a similar approach might be needed here. Maybe even aim it at the grandparents as well, in the hope they’ll put the thumbscrews on parents who don’t seem to give a damn.
April 28th, 2010 2:57 am
I would be interested to see some reliable statistics comparing the amount of crashes/injuries/deaths etc and the proportion of adults to children, maybe even the percentage of seatbelt wearers to non-seatbelt wearers to those in Britain, Europe, USA etc.
Don’t get me wrong, I think ensuring everyone is well informed is extremely important and it sounds as if there is a definite need for this, but I think freedom of choice is positively refreshing.
Perhaps a good law to introduce would be that seatbelts have to be fitted and usable in all cars, so providing an option?
I don’t know if it’s changed but the last time I went to Turkey it was exactly the same. No one wore seatbelts, not even Marlon’s mum and dad which I found extremely bizarre, having been brought up to understand the safety benifits! Luckily their car was fitted with them and I was able to exercise my freedom of choice to wear one at all times 🙂
April 28th, 2010 11:04 am
Freedom of choice with seatbelts?
Drink driving, should that be a matter of choice?
MOT or equivalent – should ensuring your car is not a death trap be up to you?
Driving around with a loaded gun aimed at the driver’s head, also OK?
I think the closest you and I might come to an agreement on this one would be that no matter what, anyone under 18 needs a belt on, in any seat in the car?
As to whether adults should be allowed to be free ranging missiles potentially hurtling through the air with a force equivalent to a small elephant, about to hit the driver, who would then totally lose control, and possibly smash into other cars, pedestrians, pets, parents pushing their baby about for a walk in a pushchair on the pavement, I think our views diverge at this point.
Freedom of choice when the consequences are purely limited to the decision taker themselves, I’d agree is something to normally aim for, however seatbelts don’t just effect the passenger in question, nor even just the other people in the same car, but can have knock on consequences for anyone else in the vicinity of the original shunt/crash.