WHEN are Malaysian parents going to learn? Car safety belts are not for decorative purposes and child seats are mandatory for child passengers below the age of 12 (or below 36kg in weight). Child safety locks are also installed for a reason.
A video that has been making the rounds on social media has many netizens both horrified and breathing a sigh of relief. The video uploaded on Paul Tan’s Automotive News shows a young child tumbling out of a car via its rear passenger door who was then hit twice in quick succession by cars trailing behind.
pentingnya anak duduk dalam child seat dengan seatbelt
kalau takde child seat sekurang2nya pasang child lock kat pintu belakang tu pic.twitter.com/v6a0QI9lK1
— Paul Tan’s Automotive News (@paultan) October 17, 2023
Miraculously, the child managed to get on his feet and stagger towards motorcyclists who had stopped to offer assistance. The 25-second video does not show how far away the child’s ride stopped to notice he was no longer in the car, nor does it show the cars that hit the poor boy stopping to offer any assistance. In fact, they seemed to be wanting to make a quick getaway!
It is, indeed, a common sight on Malaysian roads where these rules on child safety seats or even just buckling up are openly and flagrantly disregarded. Instead of constantly harping on tinted windows, the authorities really need to embark on a hard-hitting education campaign to knock sense into parents.
It is suggested that the full brunt of the law be used to get the message though, starting with the parents of this poor child. As for the drivers of cars who hit the poor child, blameless as they may be for the mishap, they should have stopped on the spot to offer assistance instead of letting the toddler stagger around a busy street. – Oct 19, 2023
Main photo credit: Twitter user @paultan
