Inappropriate car seats major reason of car accidents involving children - PPBM

A total of 65 percent of car accidents involve children, with the main cause being inappropriate car seats and seat belts.

This alarming number has prompted child care expert, the Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia (PPBM) to provide awareness and promote the use of car seats.

In collaboration with German car-maker Volkswagen, the association plans to distribute 200 free car seats to parents who are unable to afford it.

"The Volkswagen Child Car Passenger Seat is a joint programme to raise awareness among parents of the importance of using car seats," said PPBM's executive director Jameyah Sheriff in an exclusive interview with Astro AWANI.

“Some fathers even put their child on their lap while driving. That is very dangerous,” she said.

PPBM vice-president Hashim Ibrahim meanwhile urged parents to be more proactively involved in their child’s development.

"Parents should stop treating childcare centres as parking lots where they can simply park their children at the centres for specific time duration and pick them up after that," he said.