Five-month-old child flung out of vehicle, dies in car crash – remember to secure young ones in child seats

Another tragic loss of life, this time being the loss of a five-month-old child when the vehicle she was travelling in with her family members skidded and overturned at KM161.1 along the North-South Expressway in Tangkak on Monday, Bernama reported.

The five-month-old succumbed to injuries on the spot after being flung out of the vehicle in the incident, Tangkak police chief Supt Mohd Fadhil Minhat told the news wire; the vehicle the family was travelling in was reported to be travelling from the town of Tangkak to Bukit Gambir.

The child and her family members were travelling in a Perodua Alza driven by her 28-year-old father who lost control of the vehicle as it skidded and overturned. The driver and six other passengers in the vehicle, including his wife aged 28 sustained minor injuries in the incident.

All victims were being treated at Tangkak Hospital, where the deceased child was also taken for post-mortem. This case is being investigated under Section 41 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, according to Bernama.

In this instance, there was no mention of the deceased child being secured in a child seat, or if all other occupants of the vehicle were appropriately secured either, however this fatality of the child would be much less likely if a suitable child seat was used and properly installed.

Assistance for the purchase of child seats has been provided by the Malaysian government as well as private entities; the government announced during the tabling of Budget 2022 (Bajet 2022) that it would provide a 50% subsidy for the purchase of child seats priced RM300 or below, for which applications opened in March this year.

Separately, BMW Malaysia also announced its NEXTStep Subsidy programme for child car seats as part of its car safety advocacy for children, which offers fully subsidised child car seats to parents in the B40 group in conjunction with its long-term partner Safe ‘n Sound. Here at paultan.org, we have also offered free child seat rental during the festive season.

There has even been shifts in legislation where the use of child seats in cars is concerned, though this was first mooted and then postponed. Regardless, our stand here at paultan.org remains – do the best you can for safety, even if the law is behind the curve on this.