The child is the main passenger!

Under this title, from March 17 to 27, the State Automobile Inspectorate is conducting a preventive event aimed at preventing road traffic accidents involving child passengers and reminding drivers who transport children in vehicles of their responsibility for their safety and lives.

Despite the fact that this issue is always under special control of the State Automobile Inspectorate officers, accidents involving children continue to occur. In January-February of the current year, compared to the same period last year, the number of road traffic accidents involving minors has increased across the republic. Due to the fault of drivers, 36 out of 41, or 87.8%, children were injured. The most unfavorable situation is observed in the Minsk region, where a 14-year-old and a 13-year-old passengers of a route taxi died as a result of a head-on collision in the Smolevichi district. In the Vitebsk region, a 17-year-old passenger died in a head-on collision.

According to the Traffic Regulations, the transportation of children in a passenger car equipped with seat belts must be carried out using child restraint systems that correspond to the child's weight and height – for children up to five years of age; child restraint systems that correspond to the child's weight and height, or other devices (boosters, special seat cushions, additional seats) that allow the child to be fastened using the seat belts provided by the vehicle's design – for children from five to twelve years of age.

The accident statistics, unfortunately, prove that for some drivers, a child seat is just a chance to avoid punishment from traffic police officers, rather than the safety of the child.

Department of the State Automobile Inspectorate of the Miory District Executive Committee