An operation aimed at highlighting in-car child safety throughout Conwy and Denbighshire will get underway this month.
Throughout September and beyond, officers from North Wales Police, the Fire and Rescue Service and the local Highways Department will be visiting primary schools as well as mini-cab companies highlighting in-car child safety.
The initiative is aimed at raising awareness of the life saving benefits when it comes to wearing seatbelts, as well as educating parents and drivers on the correct fitting and use of child seats and booster cushions in vehicles.
Llandudno Sergeant Jonny Hill who was the former Chair of Conwy & Denbighshire’s Childhood Injuries Group said: “Starting on September the 6th, officers from North Wales Police as well as the Fire and Rescue Service, who are specially trained with fitting child car seats, will be visiting primary schools throughout Conwy and Denbighshire.
“A recent survey was undertaken by Council Road Safety Officers at the ASDA car park in Llandudno which highlights the problem of unsafe seats. Only six of the 51 child car seats that were checked were fitted correctly – many needed re-adjusting or tightening however others were totally inappropriate.”
Every year around 4,400 children under ten year-olds are injured and 22 are killed as a result of being a passenger in a vehicle on British roads. It is also common to see cars on the road with children who are not wearing a seatbelt.
Sgt Hill added: “If parents or carers don’t use appropriate car restraints, they are not only leaving their child at risk of death or serious injury but they are also breaking the law.
“This initiative is about working in partnership with other agencies as well as the schools and local companies, to increase the use of seatbelts and in doing so, keeping our children safe.”
Working in partnership with the local Highways Department, North Wales Police will also be visiting all mini-cab companies that have ‘school run’ contracts to ensure they are complying with the law as well as visiting all primary schools throughout both Conwy and Denbighshire to talk to the children in assembly.
Stuart Davies, Head of Highways for Conwy and Denbighshire Councils said: “Our road safety teams have been out and about over the summer months offering child car seat checks and advice to motorists, so we’re very keen to move on to this next stage of the campaign and look at vehicles used by parents and companies on the school-run.”
The operation began yesterday, Monday, September the 6th and will run for a number of weeks.
Safety tips:
- Remember that it’s the law that children under 135cms in height (4ft 5 ins) use an appropriate child car restraint on every journey, both for their own safety and the safety of other passengers in the car
- Only once children reach 135cms in height or 12 years old, whichever is first, can they just wear an adult seat belt
- Don’t be tempted to put the same seatbelt round two children – they’re not designed to work that way so the protection will be minimal
- Never use an infant carrier in a car seat that has an active airbag
- Most collisions happen to the front of cars – the safest place for children is in the backseat
- Make sure your child is either in the car or with an adult before you move the car
- Keep your car keys out of reach of young children and the handbrake on.
