Keep Your Child Safe IN The Car

Just as you think you've seen it all, "bolehland" springs up another surprise! 

This relates to the latest incident which happened a couple of days ago where a small boy was seen lying on the fast lane of a highway after being flung out of a car.

The footage which was taken from Alan Chang's dashcam, showed the horrible event unfolding. 

The footage starts off with a blue Honda Jazz and white Perodua Myvi typically egging each other on in the fast lane. We see the Myvi driver undercut the Jazz through the slower lanes, dodging and diving past other motorists in the process.

The Myvi driver then wanting to prove a point, moves in front of the car it overtakes and in doing so swipes another vehicle which causes it to hit the barrier and spins out.

Before you know it you see a small boy rolling around on the fast lane with Alan stopping right behind him thankfully. The footage does take some nerve to watch as you witness an innocent child in danger.

Now, we are not here to point fingers because we are all human and make mistakes, but taking the right steps to safely travel with a child should be on every parent's mind. 

I've personally been in a road accident with my kid in the vehicle and the only difference between her still breathing and living a beautiful life was the child seat.  

For those who have never thought of it before but now wish to travel with peace of mind knowing that you have taken every measure to make sure your child is safer in the car, here are some tips;

Overcoming the introduction of children's car seat

Kids can never really sit still and the introduction of a car seat where they will have to be in one place for a duration of time will incur some rebellion - loud crying mostly. To overcome this, you must commit to it no matter how loud they cry in the beginning, you must put them in the seat. After some time, they will adapt to the situation and it will be easier to place them there. Promise, it does get easier!. Just look at every other parent with kids in car seats, they're fine!!

Keeping kids preoccupied whilst in seat

There are many ways to keep a child entertained in a car. Games, books, snacking, singing, storytelling through a media player, you name it. The name of the game is planning your trip and what to do during that journey. If you are alone in the car, prepare some of their favourite toys to play with. Worse come to worst, you can always put a video on, and although many parents frown on this practice, it's still better than having them running around in the car unsecured due to them crying being in the child seat.

Overcoming the price of child car seats

If you can afford the best child car seat by all means that should be the one to go for, but a MIROS (Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research) QR code approved child seat can be had at a sub RM200 price. Sometimes in a sale, you can have it for much less. Think of the child seat as part of the car and the additional cost of owning one- a car that is.

Child lock the doors

If you're buying a new car, try to get one with child lock features on the doors. If you have an old car that doesn't have this feature, this is where the child seat will come in handy. Even if the door freakishly flings open, the child will still be secure in the seat. 

As parents, we should do all we can to keep our children safe while in the car and that involves making sure they remain IN the car.