Editorial: Child's safety is top priority

Sandy Waugh of Plunket is trying to keep children safe.

It's disturbing to think of a 1-year-old child being placed in a polystyrene booster seat with just a lap belt to hold them in place.

That a child was loaded into a car with such inadequate restraints, with the mountain of publicity that has been generated to raise safety awareness in recent years, only adds to the recklessness of those responsible.

The case came to light during a sting on child restraints in the Western Bay, in which more than half of the child restraints were found not to be up to standard.

Eleven of the 481 children checked were unrestrained and 270 child restraints had fitting faults, most which were potentially dangerous to the user in a crash.

Sandy Waugh, Plunket's Bay of Plenty/Lakes car seat services manager, says it is scary to think that so many people are still not getting the message to keep their children safe.

Other dangerous practices she noted included twisted or loose harness straps, people not using tether straps so the top of the carseat was unsecured, and children with their arms outside safety harnesses.

Many of the car seats were also out-of-date by one or two years.

It is difficult to justify not having the right restraints to keep children safe. Cost may be an issue for some but surely items such as these should be at the top of the list in terms of priorities when it comes to the family budget.

Lack of awareness might be another reason but most child restraint providers have trained technicians who can advise people which restraint is the best for their child and also help them fit it correctly. Parents needs to ensure they fully comply with laws covering this area - for their child's safety.