Cape Town - Child Passenger Safety Week is in sight from September 18–24 and organisations are buckling up to raise awareness about road traffic accidents, which are considered to be the leading cause of death among children under the age of 10.
This comes after a report compiled by ChildSafe, using data from the trauma unit at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH), indicated that road traffic injuries are the fourth leading cause of injury in children and account for 12% of all injuries.
The report further indicated that in 2021, 620 children were treated for traffic-related injuries, down from 677 in 2020. Furthermore, 65% of pedestrians were aged between 5 and 12 years, 35% of pedestrians were aged under 4 years, and 364 children who were treated by the RCWMCH trauma unit were injured while playing in the road. The report also mentioned that passenger injuries were 16% of traffic injuries, and of the child passengers treated at the RCWMCH trauma unit, 89% were unrestrained.
Member of the Trauma Society of South Africa, Timothy Hardcastle, said that the after-effects of road traffic injuries on children were immense, ranging from developmental delays to long-term issues with mental and physical function.
“There is a mix of minor to major injury from broken bones and wounds right through to severe head and chest injury that needs ICU admission. There are also lots of children who die at the scene due to the severity of the injury. The effect on the schooling is immense, with developmental delays and long-term issues with mental and physical function. There is a severe lack of rehabilitation access in South Africa for recovery from injury and this worsens the results of the good work done at the hospital level of care.
“The root of the problem is manifold: a mixture of poor public transport (roads, maintenance and policing), poor economic status, poor pedestrian zones, along with multiple competing interests for health care (maternal health, NCDs and HIV/Aids). The poor use of child restraints, cycle helmets and other safety devices is an indictment of our society,” said Hardcastle.
Looking at the effects of alcohol on these injuries, the report found that there were 110 alcohol-related road traffic injuries from January to February 2021, which decreased to 96 from the same period in 2022.
With the country’s drinking culture rooted in the “dop” system, the innovation manager at the DG Murray Trust, Onesisa Mtwa, said that alcohol-related traumas and diseases cost public health facilities more than R11 billion a year, and this burden had an impact on the struggling public health system’s ability to adequately deliver quality services to communities.
“The direct and indirect costs of alcohol-related harms is costing the country roughly R277bn per year. This includes costs to the public health system, crime, welfare, economic productivity, road accidents and deaths. A strengthened Liquor Amendment Bill can be the beginning of reducing the high and burdensome costs of alcohol-related harms on our society. While it could take at least 15 years to begin seeing tangible change, this piece of legislation can help us change the trajectory of our society,” said Mtwa.
ChildSafe spokesperson Chiedza Mujeni added that child safety seats and safety belts were crucial when installed and used correctly because they don’t only prevent injuries, but also save lives.
“Most children in South Africa travel without being properly buckled up either in child safety seats or seat belts. If a child is not properly buckled up while in a car, they have a great chance of dying in the event of a collision or crash. Child safety seats and safety belts, when installed and used correctly, can prevent injuries and save lives. Unrestrained children are more likely to be injured, suffer severe injuries and die in motor vehicle crashes than children who are restrained.
“Although engineers around the world have worked to make cars safer, people should never allow adults to drink and drive, never allow adults to use their cellphones while driving, never put children at the back of the bakkie, never allow adults to hold children on their laps and never put a child in a rear-facing car seat in a front seat of a car with an active frontal airbag,” said Mujeni.