Motorists urged to buckle up children to ensure safety this festive season

JOHANNESBURG - Motorists are urged to buckle up their children to ensure child safety on the roads this festive season.

One of the main concerns has been the negligence of child safety inside vehicles.

In South Africa, by law, it's required that everyone in a vehicle should wear a seatbelt. Moreover, the driver is also legally responsible for ensuring that children are buckled up.

According to the Medical Research Council, passenger deaths in children are the fourth leading cause of unnatural deaths in the country.

Motorist expert, Warren Tucker:

"Small kids up to 10 years - old the child must be on either a booster seat or a car seat… once the child is tall enough the child can sit without that but have a safety belt on. The reason for the booster seats is a lot of the modern vehicles have airbags, if the child sitting in front where they shouldn’t be and the airbag can do more damage if the child is not the correct height.”