A non-profit consumer group has urged the government to make the use of child safety seats in passenger vehicles mandatory without any further delay. The Malaysian Consumers Association (Maconas) said that such a move – which it has long proposed – will help reduce fatalities and serious injuries, Berita Harian reports.
Its president, Datuk Amarjit Singh Gill, said the ministry of transport and relevant government agencies should be committed to making the use of such seats compulsory. He said that it will prevent incidents in which children are thrown out of the car in accidents, as was the case two days ago when a five-year-old boy died after being flung out of his parents’ car when it was hit by a bus.
“The safety of passengers in a vehicle is not only applicable to adults but to children and infants as well. It is sad to learn that a life was lost in the accident on the North-South Expressway near Seremban yesterday because there was no child seat in place,” he said in a statement.
Amarjit believed that the loss of life could have been avoided if the boy had been secured properly with the use of a seat belt and a child safety seat.
He said thousands of vehicles are on the road every day and children – from infants to five – are always at risk being seated in the back seat without any tailored safety features in place. He lamented the fact that there are still many who have a nonchalant attitude towards safety, citing those who place a child on their lap while seated in front as an example.
Amarjit said that based on previous studies, statistics showed that the use of safety seats can reduce the risk of death by 71% for infants and 54% for children aged one to five years. “If we are serious about improving road safety, we must also be serious in ensuring that all precautionary measures are taken to ensure the safety of all passengers in the vehicle,” he stated.
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Not just child seats, Government should made it mandatory for manufacturers to install seat belt reminder for all seats and gadgets to stop the car from moving if passengers are not buckled up. Autonomous braking should also be made compulsory for all new vehicles to be sold in Malaysia especially lorries and buses.
Seatbelt reminder is quite std nowadays. But then if pipu uses those clip on bypass thats cheap at Ali or DIY, then…
Malaysians must change their attitude. No money also, they will do anything to bergaya and drive expensive car. But invest in car seat, they will refuse. Hello, Sweet Cherry car seat only RM90 in Aeon Jusco.
More important is our heroes in PDRM. PDRM also must buck up. They also, all tidur. Back safety belts also never enforce. All maaf maaf. If not maaf maaf, they makan duit kopi and all settle.
You can have all the laws in the world, but if there is no enforcement, you can kiss goodbye to the law.
Go see in other countries, even no back seat belt, terus masuk jail. no questions about it. Time for PDRM also to enforce the law. Enough of duit kopi. Start doing your work. Go to Singapore and see, everybody so scared to even touch their handphones whilst driving. Terus masuk jail.
Here in Malaysia, everybody whatsapping on the road. Polis catch also, take ang pau and offender is let off the hook to repeat his offence again.
In Australia, people with kids are so scared not to go into a car that has no child seat. My relatives in Australia refused to let my baby into the car with no child seat. The law is so strict.
Duit kopi causes accidents and lives. It needs to be eradicated completely
Shall enforce it tightly
Besides the child seats and seat belts, please enforce the rule for not using the signal or indicators when turning an offence. Seriously, how annoyed can you be when there’s idiots who turns without giving signals while you’re waiting so long to cross over to the other side of the road?
same goes to the bus speed limiter…please enforce it as soon as possible
Also, enforce LANE HOGGER on right lane..
4 lane Seremban highway, both left lane almost empty
while slow moving car on both right lane.
@Karam Singh … exactly! Along highways with more than 2 lanes, the left most lanes are always empty, and the slowest lane is the 2nd right most lane. These slow pokes make it hard for other drivers who are at 110kph, as the right most lanes are normally occupied by those driving above 110kph.
To add to that,
1. heavy vehicles should never be using the fast lane or the outer most lane. You see a lot buses and trucks using the outer most lane.
2. Tailgating is should be an offence punished equally as heavy as speeding. In fact I propose more.
3. Cars performing illegal movement or filtering in and out of traffic should also be fine or jail.
I think the whole issue ENFORCEMENT!!!! I think when there is a heavy penalty like jail time, people would reconsider their actions seriously.
How to enforce when all the above r not ILLEGAL? Only dangerous driving, but how do u prove that unless kena eksiden?
Eh, thought they enforced it already??
To be more safe, all passengers should wear helmets. Also, wear clothing like in race cars. All business. Day lights, 3rd light, ABS, n others airbags,. haha… Most important is the altitude and alert, watchful, keep car under control. Be a skill driver always alert, concentrating in driving , fast n slow does not matters .Accidents on the road usually cause by human error.beside faults of cars. that the driver must check car.
Seatbelt and child seats are safe, efficient, easy to use, and cost effective. We have worldwide statistics that show they save lives.
Helmets and fire-proof clothing are cumbersome and not cost-effective.
You are right though that apart from safety equipments, many Malaysians are in dire need of attitude change towards traffic safety.
Datuk dah survey berapa harga car seat? Patut Datuk tolong minta pembekal kurangkan harga. baru namanya non profit org.
Iphone 3k boleh beli, starbuck 1 cup rm15 boleh minum, bayar kereta bulan2 500 ratus, 200 to 300 or cheaper car sit cannot buy ka abang? Even a cheapest smart phone cost you more then good cheap car sit.
Hello Susukotak,
The car ribu2 can buy, but for extra safety measure owner always cheapskate. How come that happen? At least Proton became the 1st manufacturer offer child seat at big discounted price for their buyer. Other? IDK.
Made dog seat mandatory too, there are drivers out there like to teach their pets how to drive too.
Also do not allow commercial vehicles to use retreaded tyres! Ban them as it is not safe for other road users!
Whole 2nd and 3rd row is sandwiched.
In this case child car seat won’t make a difference even if he was inside and secure.
The Malaysian Consumers Association said they have long ago proposed the use of child safety seats in passenger vehicles.
This show our Gov/agencies did NOT Listen. No wonder many commentators here said Most of them TIDO/Sleep or are they still Sleeping ??!
By looking at the picture of that accident last few days, with or without child seat even adult sitting behind also will die , wasn’t that government should do and ask inspection on those lorries and busses to make sure that won’t be out of control ?
Obviously right.
to gomen, AES is first priority(source of income), child safety like this have to wait..very sad.
Prices of child seats in Malaysia are exorbitant. So, I did an online purchase of carseats from Germany, isofix ones which have the highest safety rating available. When the items arrived, I was slapped with a 30% customs duty on the price + insurance + freight charges.
If the government really does care about the safety of children and citizens like us, they really need to look into driving this by tax and customs duty reductions to make these lifesavers more affordable.
according to above comment, u can get cheap child seat at Jusco….anyway, if u really value & love your children, u will spend on the best child seats!!
So sad people dont do this without thought. It is purely lazy parents, too lazy to teach kids properly and have them ride in their lap, or even worse, the center armrest of the car. You are to lazy to protect your childs life! Tewrrible parents. Just sad the kid has to be hurt or killed due to stupid parents.
The problem is life is too cheap for the gov. My 8th Gen Honda Civic doesn’t even have Child Seat ISOFix, whereas overseas version comes with it, the question is, why Honda removes it? But the most important question is, why is the government denying us ‘better’ cars? Proton is the answer.
As long as Mahathir and gang and family can drive in a safe vehicle, we are nothing more than a ‘product’ for their agenda.
Change ur car. Even P1 now has top tether ISOfix
Car belt is more than enough to hold a child carseat properly. Learn how to fit it properly. ISOFIX is good for easy installation. Badly manufactured isofix could be dangerous too.
i in favor of this, however, can we stop using the BR-V incident as the point for this? it is unfortunate for that family, and although the argument is that the child in that USA case survive, its more likely a case of luck when it comes to high impact rear collision. it is also not apple to apple comparison (sedan vs small mpv, c-segment vs stretched a-segment).
What we, and especially u guys at Paultan since u got the power, to look at in the BR-V case is that how safe it is for a budget 7 seater to us. if fully loaded, with child seat and all, does it help with this kind of collision? is it safe for us to put our children at the 3rd row? where is the crumple zone?if it is not safe, then why bother putting 3rd row seat when they know people will get injured? does honda actually have any safety measure when stretching an a-segment chassis to protect its consumer?does NCAP 5-star rating actually can mislead consumer, when testing is only done for frontal collision but are marketed as 5 star safe car?
there is a bigger issue here, one that make a family man really think on whether to buy a 7 seater or just stick with sedan.
Agreed…i dont think most safety evaluation have incorporated the rating on safety at the 3rd row….whether EURONCAP, US Version, AUst NCAP..etc…most test are either frontal or side impact!
Once again Malaysia has decided to take its usual route: no action (not even a reactive one) and passing the buck to the people. Let’s get the basics right first. There are 3 parties involved here: the government, the manufacturers and the users. The government needs to first ensure that they provide safer roads, better systems, updated rules and sure enforcements. We still have countless potholes everywhere that impose various dangers, signages that are ridiculously placed and labeled, outdated traffic lights, nonsensical road markings, etc. When it comes to enforcement, why do we still have so many large commercial vehicles that are on the road with poor brakes, dangerous tyres, and unqualified drivers? Before we even begin discussing how carmakers can make safer vehicles or imposing this and that to road users, the government needs to ask themselves what THEY need to do first in ensuring a safer road environment. Before we improve our swimming techniques and etiquette, discuss better gears and equipment, etc, we need to ask: is the area SAFE enough to swim in in the first place.
Oh sure. Its all Gov fault, never road users, eh? Its due to this mentality that road users become daredevil and YOLO lifestyle that causes more accidents and deaths. Take charge of ur life bro!
i mentioned 3 parties, the government being the FIRST to hold accountability. Maybe you should take charge of your english before commenting. Daredevil behavior exists because of SEVERAL factors. The government, being the FIRST in line to hold accountability, needs to know the importance of proper policing and corruption-free enforcement. If you build roads that lay out like a racetrack and leave it police-free, there’re bound to be racers there.
Why only when got special case you speak of the importance. Only when life are sacrifice only then you say. Oh i will implement asap.
Often see a proton Wira or Satria stuffed with 3-4 kids with 2 adults in the car (some go up to even 5 kids). How to install carseat at that situation? Can the parents even afford buying 3-5 car safety seats for their kids?
Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree with using car seat. In fact my girl has never sit in the car without a car seat since born.
I am just pointing out this situation and see if anyone can provide some good solutions to these parents. Buy big MPV and 5 car seats, if they can afford….Honestly, I have no solution for this.
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They should think, plan or use protection before they decide to have many kids don’t they?
If they cannot afford a new Alza, Exora or Ertiga, they should get a used Grand Livina, or Toyota Liteace, Hiace, Ford Econovan or Daihatsu Hijet.
my opinion, its boil down on how much u love your children…take 2 trips if you only have a sedan with 2 child seats available but have 4 kids…which is more important? your child safety or ur own convenience???? decide…
I’ve said this before. Why not car manufacturers/seller in Malaysia add child seat as one of their equipment list for every car they sell. If they want to put their own label on the car seat, let them be. Much better than fuel coupon, free astro or anything.
Not every car buyer is a famili man with small kids.
the brv accident, the kids did not wear the child seat and got thrown off. if they did wear, I think they would be crushed to pulp.
sooner or later … mpv will have higher / expensive insurance premium …
Car owner: Car seat is too expensive. Buy later la. Need money for something else.
Car owner: Wow, nice sport rims. Only RM1k only ar? Must buy now.
Car owner: Car seat is too expensive. No need lah. Need money for something else.
Car owner: Wow, nice ‘stupid’ sport rims and ‘GearUpToHell’ or Stupidvo bodykits. RM2k only ar? Must buy now else i can’t show off until heaven with my junk cars.
Car owners would rather spend money on stickers and window tint that their childs safety. Malaysians are really dumb when it comes to seatbelt and car seat use. The developed world has easily provable statistics that they save lives, Malaysians somehow think they are smarter than the scientists and thousands of studies and crash tests. Maybe it is the way for Darwin to get rid of all the dumb Malaysians (if you dont wear seatbelt or put your kids in car seats you are the dumb one).
This should be made compulsory long long time ago.
it’s about the cost & pipu mentality. For example the rear seat-belt issue. JPJ got bash by pipu due to the cost increase for installing rear seat belt, luckily, the manufacturer willing to absorb the cost for installing the rear seat belt. Same with child seat. You’ll see netizens & keyboard warrior bash on the JPJ/Gomen if they intend to make it compulsory with so many reasons not to do so.
I agree that govt should remove the taxation imposed to this child seat, only then the price will be affordable for pipu.