It's not enough to hold your child in a car - why Thais are being told to use car seats.

[brewsterbudgen]

14 minutes ago, speedtripler said:

You would you expect them to be 30 years behind it too? 

 

In some areas I wouldn't be at all surprised, and appreciation of, and compliance with, a culture of health & safety would be one such example.

[eggers]

Most Countries now, it's compulsory for babies & small children to be secured in a safety approved Child seat...

Time Thailand got up to speed with car & passenger safety, way behind!! 

[dotpoom]

"what price do you put on your child's life?"

Well, considering the price many appear to put on their own lives......no helmets, no lights, 3 or 4 on a motorbike, allowing children to drive, no licences, no insurance, speeding etc., etc., etc.,...........not a lot.

 

[commie]

I guess this "expert" never heard of cars that are designed for front child seat mount.

[Bob12345]

I walk my dog 3 times a day in the moobaan and see at least 2 cars a day with a child either standing on the front seat or sitting there.

The costs excuse do not make sense to me as in most cases these cars are high-end models (Camry, Prius, or imported).

 

Its basically stupidity at work here, and it is prevalent all over especially regarding traffic safety.

I know of nurses in a private hospital who sold their baby seat because the baby cried when placed in it, and i know most medical personal going to accidents in an ambulance go there without wearing their seatbelts. 

[Bluespunk]

2 hours ago, ba ba said:

children kicking up a fuss??? well then smack them and the little a sol boys should get a wack every day from berth and to all you do gooders it didn't hurt a lot of us baby boomers

Your advise on how to raise children would suggest the opposite is true. 

[Bob12345]

9 minutes ago, commie said:

I guess this "expert" never heard of cars that are designed for front child seat mount.

Neither has Google, as it yields zero results.

 

Care to explain?

[masuk]

7 hours ago, wgdanson said:

And that one for Bht 2200 is probably as good/safe as most motor bike helmets used.

 

When safety helmets become mandatory in Indonesia, there was little or no insistence on the quality of the helmets.

As anything went, it wasn't long before folk were wearing such low quality helmets, they were called 'flower pots'.

In most countries, the law states that they must meet approved standards such as the UK 'kite mark'.

The same must be for child safety seats, and approved seats fitted.

But first things first - make helmets compulsory, and also child safety seats.  They obviously are not at present.

The law in QLD, Australia:  

All children aged 12 and under should ride properly buckled in the back seat. Airbags can kill young children riding in the front seat. Never place a rear-facing car seat in the front seat or in front of an airbag.

[diehard60]

the reason they are being told to use car seats is because the average Thai will hold their baby in their lap while they are driving. So doesn't that make sense they have to be told.

[phetpeter]

Its a pointless discussion, motorbikes are the norm due to very low wages, transporting people here is more important, They will sit in the bed of the pickup rather than fit a baby seat. Most only travel short distance within the district they live 90 per cent of the time. Time is not right to try and force them into the ways of first world countries, as in 3rd world countries they have much more freedom of life and how they live it. and that is talking about day to day living. In 1st world countries the people do not have such freedom, you are told what you can do and when, because its the 'best' way.

[dcnx]

8 hours ago, sirineou said:

People do the best they can with what they have, Thais are no different.

A staggering 78% of them have a smart phone and internet access. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. Information is just a few taps away.

[b2bme]

Good initiative and idea as most of us agree but it just is not going to happen unless made mandatory and then enforced. Helmets are mandatory but not enforced. Seat belts for driver and front passenger mandatory but not enforced (good for tea money), only two on a motorbike but see the family of 5 quite often, no one in the back of a pick up (not sure where we are at with that one). Just sit outside any primary school (smaller kids) and see how many stand on or in front of the front passenger seat or on the center console next to mum.

A few years back I was out of Thailand living in Singapore and my Thai drivers license expired so on return I had to sit the theory test and watch a 1 hour video. In the video there is a scenario where a drunk father has an accident and the young daughter on the front seat ends up in hospital as a paraplegic. I think the message was aimed at drink driving and the fact she had no seat belt on in the front seat went over all the locals heads. When the mum and dad come and pick her up from the hospital they carry her to the car and place her on the back seat. No seat belt put on her and they drive off. I shook my head and reminded myself TIT. 

[speedtripler]

2 hours ago, robsamui said:

It does if you knock them semi-conscious . . .  as I once saw  posted on one of the Thai social media sites . . . . 

Thanks for the tip, I have a 4 month old 

Now I know what to do..... 

[speedtripler]

16 minutes ago, phetpeter said:

Its a pointless discussion, motorbikes are the norm due to very low wages, transporting people here is more important, They will sit in the bed of the pickup rather than fit a baby seat. Most only travel short distance within the district they live 90 per cent of the time. Time is not right to try and force them into the ways of first world countries, as in 3rd world countries they have much more freedom of life and how they live it. and that is talking about day to day living. In 1st world countries the people do not have such freedom, you are told what you can do and when, because its the 'best' way.

 Childrens safety should be done the "best" way 

 

 

[kannot]

8 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Seatbelts prevent injuries and death by 60-70%, which to a rational mind says every person in a vehicle needs to be wearing one and to hell with whether the kids moan. A moaning child is better than a dead one, but Thais just don't seem to understand any of the concepts of road safety, so the death toll on the roads is unlikely to decline significantly anytime soon.

doubt  more than 10% wear even a  seatbelt by me out of town .

[wlcart]

when my oldest was first born, the nurses at phyathai hospital wrapped her up in blankets from head to toe like a cocoon. I told them that I had a car seat for her and i needed to be able to put a safety belt between legs. They looked at me like I was crazy. 

[janejira]

The assistant nurse at the hospital I delivered in here suggested we take our newborn out of the carseat on the way home from the hospital because.. we weren't travelling far and baby didn't seem to like it.

 

This was not a suggestion in passing; she was insistent the whole way from the nursery to the hospital entrance and while waiting for my husband to pull up the car.

 

We did not take her advice. But I was almost made to feel guilty for putting my baby in a carseat.

 

 

[janejira]

2 minutes ago, wlcart said:

when my oldest was first born, the nurses at phyathai hospital wrapped her up in blankets from head to toe like a cocoon. I told them that I had a car seat for her and i needed to be able to put a safety belt between legs. They looked at me like I was crazy. 

My daughter was wrapped in the same cocoon just last year, at a different hospital.

 

We thought the nurses would be able to show us how to use the carseat properly, but instead they tried to buckle her in fully swaddled...then told us to just take her out.

[Jonmarleesco]

'... they are expensive and need changing as the children grow ...' Er, they can afford the car, and they change that as they grow (tired of the old one), so that is a p___s poor excuse. But no-seat is still going to be safer than their riding four-up on a m/c.

[todlad]

The usual comments on this topic well in advance of doing any proper research. When my daughter was born here we bought a car seat of very good quality for a massive amount less than the 48,000 Baht initially quoted here as the amount all Thais will pay for their seat. Two years later and the seat is well used and still perfectly serviceable: the girl has grown a lot in two years but there is absolutely no need to have bought a new seat for her as yet, still very comfortable for her.

On the other hand, the motorbike nightmare goes on as we all know: the image of mother on the bike, newborn in one hand, phone in the other is all too real. Can someone shake these people for their own good?

Driving home on Wednesday night and there was a bus on my left as we came to a right hand bend: I have driven here long enough to know that lane discipline is not a hot issue and neither is using a mirror before a manoeuvre. So, I reduced my speed and let the bus go ahead of me: he would have smashed me to pieces as he charged fully into my lane going into and round the bend, with no apparent notion that I was there. I flashed my lights to let him know what he had done and he slowed down considerably and let me go ... no car seat in the world would have saved my daughter from that lunatic.

Food for thought? How many car seats have you ever seen in Thailand? Very few. I know tinted windows make seeing into most cars challenging but I cannot remember seeing a car seat in any car other than my own: clearly they exist but to what extent?

[sirineou]

5 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

If you can afford a car, you can afford a baby seat. 

What if you really cant afford a car but you really need one?

[Jonmarleesco]

9 minutes ago, janejira said:

My daughter was wrapped in the same cocoon just last year, at a different hospital.

 

We thought the nurses would be able to show us how to use the carseat properly, but instead they tried to buckle her in fully swaddled...then told us to just take her out.

Perhaps it's me, but car seats are not intended for new-borns. There are fittings for holding carrycots.

[Jonmarleesco]

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

What if you really cant afford a car but you really need one?

And you think you don't need the baby seat? 

[Bluespunk]

12 minutes ago, sirineou said:

What if you really cant afford a car but you really need one?

That is indeed a problem. 

 

If it was my child, I would be saving long before the birth of my child, if my financal situation was problematic and I knew a baby/child seat was going to be a necessary expenditure. 

 

Oh wait...are you talking about needing a car you can't afford?

 

If so, well, if you can scrape together the finance for a car, then start saving early for the car seat as well. 

 

There is is no excuse not to have a baby/child seat, if you have a car. 

[sirineou]

Just now, Jonmarleesco said:

And you think you don't need the baby seat? 

no you need a baby seat but you also need to feed baby

 

[mrfill]

All they have to do is to make them either fashionable (hello kitty chairs..) , show that hiso's always use them and in soap operas, have some storylines showing how they are lucky.

 

I'd bet any of the above would be far more successful than trying to impose a law or expecting common sense to prevail

[sirineou]

2 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

That is indeed a problem. 

 

If it was my child, I would be saving long before the birth of my child, if I knew it was going to be a necessary expenditure. 

and we all know most people always plan for all contingencies , especially Thais   

Many people , not only Thais, dont realize the physics of a crash, but even when they do, they have to make difficult choices.

    We in the west became wise to the subject only after advocacy groups fought for it and we resisted,  eventually government adopted   but we still resisted. and eventually  most of as, not all fell in line.

Thailand is at a different stage of their development, and have to make difficult  choices.

Unfunded mandates can have a negative affect.  Why do you think we have a negative population growth rate in the west? do you think its because we dont like Boom Boom ?

There is a cost to the Nanny state.

[Bluespunk]

2 minutes ago, sirineou said:

and we all know most people always plan for all contingencies , especially Thais   

Many people , not only Thais, dont realize the physics of a crash, but even when they do, they have to make difficult choices.

    We in the west became wise to the subject only after advocacy groups fought for it and we resisted,  eventually government adopted   but we still resisted. and eventually  most of as, not all fell in line.

Thailand is at a different stage of their development, and have to make difficult  choices.

Unfunded mandates can have a negative affect.  Why do you think we have a negative population growth rate in the west? do you think its because we dont like Boom Boom ?

There is a cost to the Nanny state.

Oh dear, taking measures to keep your children alive is "nanny state"

 

My, but you do set the bar low. 

[Oceanbat]

I don't get this argument that buying a car seat to keep your child safe would result in undue hardship. Is this greater hardship than the death or maiming of the child?

I'd hazard a guess the answer is no.

OB


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[janejira]

46 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Perhaps it's me, but car seats are not intended for new-borns. There are fittings for holding carrycots.

Strange.  The model we have is intended for newborns and infants up to 10 kilograms.  After which, we'll have to get a different model.