Every year in Western Australia around 127 children aged up to 16 years old are killed or seriously injured when the vehicle they were travelling in is involved in a crash.
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On average, 14 per cent of these children were not wearing a seat belt or in an appropriate child car restraint at the time of the crash.
Gavan Hayllar, the South West RoadWise regional road safety advisor said: “Every year in Western Australia around 35 children aged 6 years old and younger are killed or seriously injured when the vehicle they were travelling in is involved in a crash. On average, 16 per cent of them will not have been in an appropriate child car restraint”.
As part of their commitment to road safety awareness, the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup teamed up with Roadwise on November 17 and hosted a free fitting and checking station at Donnybrook Apple FunPark.
Families could drop in with their car, and have their child car restraints checked or refitted by a RoadWise regional road safety advisor.
Emily Henco and her family are staying with relatives in Donnybrook on an extended holiday from Austria.
“We saw this service advertised in the local paper. Both of our children are in car restraint seats and we thought it would be a good opportunity to get the seats checked before we begin travelling and exploring the rest of WA,” Henco said.
“It’s a fabulous service, and I’m so pleased we made the time to attend. The advisor gave us a number of tips and we certainly feel more confident knowing our children are secure in their car seat.”
Shire president Angelo Logiudice said: “The types of serious injuries sustained by children and infants who are not properly restrained can be horrendous. They include head and spinal cord injuries, strangulation and impact injuries when the child impacts with the vehicle's interior. There is also the risk of a child going through the windscreen if the driver has to brake suddenly”.
“I’m so pleased that families in our region took advantage of the checking station. The Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup is very keen to promote all aspects of road safety and we plan to offer this service on an annual basis.”
