TY - JOUR
T1 - Restraint use for child occupants in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
AU - Ahmad, Inam
AU - Fildes, Brian N.
AU - Logan, David B.
AU - Koppel, Sjaan
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to acknowledge the valuable help from the entities who facilitated the data collection for this study at different public areas in Dubai, such as Al Barsha Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Latifa Women and Children Hospital, Tasjeel (Vehicle Registration and Renewal Service Centre) and RTA Customer Service Centre. We also acknowledge the effort made by the volunteer interviewers who contributed positively to the collection of the data. A major thanks is owed to the amazing people at Traffic Awareness Section at the RTA; in particular, to Deema Hussein (Traffic Awareness Senior Manager) for her support to accomplish this study, and to the amazing team of Thuraya Al Mulla and Shareef Abu Taha. Finally, we would like to thank the participants, as without their involvement, this study would not have been possible.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - The overall objective of the current study was to investigate the behaviours and knowledge of parents/carers in relation to safe child occupant travel in the Emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A community survey was completed by 786 participants who were responsible for the safety of 1614 children (aged 10 years and younger). The survey included questions related to the type, frequency and appropriateness of restraint use for their eldest child. Overall, 24 percent of participants reported that they ‘never/almost never’ restrained their eldest child while travelling in a motor vehicle, with this proportion increasing with child age. For example, though 89 percent of participants reported that they restrained their infants (<1 year) in an ‘appropriate’ restraint for their age, this rate was much lower for children aged between 5 and 7 years (10%). Overall, these findings suggest that a large proportion of child occupants, especially those aged five years and older, are not appropriately restrained in vehicles, and therefore are at an increased risk of death or serious injury in the event of a crash. Future research will validate this self-reported child restraint use data with objective data from observations of real-world child restraint use behaviour in the UAE.
AB - The overall objective of the current study was to investigate the behaviours and knowledge of parents/carers in relation to safe child occupant travel in the Emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A community survey was completed by 786 participants who were responsible for the safety of 1614 children (aged 10 years and younger). The survey included questions related to the type, frequency and appropriateness of restraint use for their eldest child. Overall, 24 percent of participants reported that they ‘never/almost never’ restrained their eldest child while travelling in a motor vehicle, with this proportion increasing with child age. For example, though 89 percent of participants reported that they restrained their infants (<1 year) in an ‘appropriate’ restraint for their age, this rate was much lower for children aged between 5 and 7 years (10%). Overall, these findings suggest that a large proportion of child occupants, especially those aged five years and older, are not appropriately restrained in vehicles, and therefore are at an increased risk of death or serious injury in the event of a crash. Future research will validate this self-reported child restraint use data with objective data from observations of real-world child restraint use behaviour in the UAE.
KW - booster seats
KW - child occupant
KW - child restraint systems (CRS)
KW - parents/carers
KW - restraint legislation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129803278&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph19105966
DO - 10.3390/ijerph19105966
M3 - Article
C2 - 35627501
AN - SCOPUS:85129803278
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 19
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 10
M1 - 5966
ER -