Child safety campaigners want the Government to change the law so that kids must sit in rear-facing car seats until they are at least 2 years old.
A friend posted a link to the online campaign on Facebook this week, and as a mum of two young kids it’s something she practises in her car.
I signed the petition because not only does it make sense but hopefully, it will save young lives. Sure, car seats are expensive, but campaigners are also asking the Government “to put in place nationwide schemes to assist families on low incomes to be able to afford suitable safe car seats”.
The campaign’s argument for rear-facing car seats states: This is in line with NZTA and Plunket recommendations and is based on evidence which shows that rear- facing car seats are up to five times safer than forward-facing seats.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises parents to keep toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat.
To back up this campaign came the news that a mother from rural Australia was urging the use of rear-facing seats after she was involved in a car crash that left her toddler, in a front-facing seat, with life-threatening injuries but her baby, in a rear-facing seat, escaped without a scratch.
The family were driving home at 100km/h when their car collided with a tree. The toddler has broken vertebrae and three months later still wears a neck brace.
See the full petition at Change.org