Safer And Better On The Road

Accidents, though not intentional, happen without warning. A major category of accidents is traffic collision. This leads to injuries, deaths and damage to properties. The United States has relatively better safety standards. Modern technological advances have been deployed in both the vehicles and traffic management. Yet the number of dead exceeds 40,000 per year. No doubt, the traffic accident rates and causality rates have declined. Still the number of people affected by traffic collision is also increasing. The increase in the population, and more traffic and travelers mean more casualties.

Safety devices and systems are of two types – the active and the passive safety devices and systems. The active safety devices and systems are those that require the occupant of the vehicle to act such as fastening seat belt. The passive safety devices and systems are those that operate on its own such as air bags on sudden jerks or collision.

The most vulnerable section of travelers is the children when it comes to accidents. They are smaller and lighter than the adults. Sudden jerks during collision impact can dislodge the children and throw them off. Safety measures as air bags and active seat belts can be useful. Special safety measures for children and infants are recognized to be installed or adopted according to the height, weight and age of the children. Many countries have adopted safety measures for children and made them mandatory in vehicles that transport children. These include child safety locks and child seat. Power window lockouts are installed so that the driver can control the opening and shutting of windows and doors to prevent children from meddling with them.

Infant seat belts are specifically designed for infants. These are seats that are secured to the automobile. The infant is held firmly to the infant seat belt while traveling and in the event of an accident or sudden jerks. Infant seat belts have become mandatory in some countries as part of the safety regulations. Infant safety seats are available in the market in different models. Britax Frontier Booster Car Seat offers advanced shock-absorption as well as cushioning in side impact collisions. It is easy to set up the seat.

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has come out with its ‘Regulation R44-04’ as the recommended international safety standard for baby and child seats. The International Organization for Standardization has also introduced safety standards for car seats in 1990 called ISOFIX. LACTH is the United States equivalent of this standard. Baby seats that comply with ISOFIX standards are introduced in some automobiles.