Baby Tips 101

Accidents are not intentional, but take place unexpectedly. A category of accidents is traffic collision. There can be fatalities, injuries and damage to properties resulting from traffic collision. Even in a country reputed to have a higher degree of safety measures and adoption of the most technologically advanced systems in vehicle and traffic management, have a 40,000 annual fatality due to accidents. Safety requirements have been steadily increasing. The accident rates too have been steadily declining. But in terms of pure numbers, the number of deaths and injured too are on the rise. Rising population, increased travel and travelers and more traffic remain the unavoidable causes.

There are two types of safety devices and systems. They are the active and passive safety devices and systems. The active safety devices and systems require the traveler to act. Fastening seat belt is one such action. The passive safety devices and systems operate on their own automatically and independent of any action of the traveler. The inflation of airbags on collision or sudden jerk is an example of this.

The most vulnerable section of travelers is the children when it comes to accidents. They are smaller and lighter than the adults. Sudden jerks during collision impact can dislodge the children and throw them off. Safety measures as air bags and active seat belts can be useful. Special safety measures for children and infants are recognized to be installed or adopted according to the height, weight and age of the children. Many countries have adopted safety measures for children and made them mandatory in vehicles that transport children. These include child safety locks and child seat. Power window lockouts are installed so that the driver can control the opening and shutting of windows and doors to prevent children from meddling with them.

There are specially designed seat for infants. These infant safety seats are secured to the automobile seat. When there are sudden jerks or collisions, the infant seat belt holds the child firmly. These are now a part of the safety regulations prescribed in some countries. There are different models of infant seat belts on sales in the market. Britax Frontier Seat has advanced shock-absorption and cushioning. These are also easy to set up.

Internationally the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has set an international standard for baby and child seats called ‘Regulation R44-04’. ISOFIX standard has been developed by the International Organization for Standardization in 1990 for car seats.  The United States equivalent of this is the LACTH. Some manufacturers supply ISOFIX standard compliant baby seats.