Child car seats paultan.org 008

Child car seats may soon be offered as an optional accessory with new car purchases by the end of 2016. The Malaysian Road Safety Department (JKJR) has stated that it will put forth the proposal to car manufacturers soon.

In a report by The Sun Daily, the department’s director-general Datuk Arifin Che Mat said he will engage with participants in the automotive industry after Hari Raya Aidilfitri to discuss the likelihood of making child car seats more affordable to the masses.

“Our aim is to talk to national car manufacturers – Proton and Perodua, foreign car companies as well as child car seat distributors. If the car companies agree to our proposal, we believe it can increase the demand for child car seats and reduce prices,” he explained, adding that car dealers could offer discounts for child car seats to parents when ordering a new a car.

Arifin is also steadfast in “encouraging parents to buckle up their children while travelling” in the next 12 months, and has ideas for other road safety programmes in the country. “One step at a time. I want to increase awareness among parents on the importance of CRS,” he said.

One of the more common reasons given among Malaysia parents for not using child seats is that they are too costly to buy. From our own research, however, we’ve found that proper ECE R44-certified child seats can be had for around RM400.

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