Vehicle Safety for Pregnant Women and Children
The Road Safety Team is urging parents to reduce the risk of their child being injured in a car crash by taking the time to buy a purpose-made car seat that suits their height and weight, fitting it correctly and using it every trip.
In Bracknell during the period 1 November 2000 to 31 October 2003 there were 43 casualties occurring to children in the 0-6 age range. The majority of these casualties occurred on a Friday between the hours of 5 to 7pm in daylight hours and the weather conditions were dry.
The Department for Transport Think! Campaign offers detailed advice on choosing, fitting and using a child car seat.
Seat belt wearing in Pregnancy
All pregnant women must wear seat belts by law when travelling in cars. This applies to both front and back seats and pregnancy itself does not in itself provide exemption from the law.
Medical research has shown that the safest way to wear a seat belt is to place the shoulder strap between the breasts (over the breastbone) and the lap belt flat on the thighs, fitting comfortably beneath the enlarged abdomen. In this way the forces applied in a sudden impact can be absorbed by the body’s frame.
It is inadvisable to wear “Lap-only-Belts” as opposed to lap and diagonal belts as they have been shown to cause grave injuries to unborn children in the event of sudden deceleration. Mother and unborn child are both safer in a collision if a lap and diagonal seat belt is being worn correctly.
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