Child restraint system use in the United Arab Emirates

- Deaths and injuries among infants due to traffic crashes in UAE are high.
- Field study results indicate that 16.7% of parents restrain their children.
- Questionnaire results show that 9% reported not or rarely restraining their children.
- 3.4% of respondents indicated their disbelief in the importance of those systems.
- young, less educated and male parents reported lower use rate than others.
- Urgent ways to improve child restraint system use should be implemented in UAE.

ObjectiveDeaths and injuries among infants due to traffic crashes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are very high when compared to other countries. An efficient way to improve the safety of children in moving vehicles is to use Child Restraint Systems (CRS) to hold the child during any possible collision. The aim of this study is to estimate the rate of CRS use among children under the age of five in UAE, to determine demographic characteristics that affect CRS use, such as parent's age, and education level, and to assess parents' perceptions and knowledge of this issue.MethodsA roadside observational study was done in two of the seven emirates that constitute UAE, involving 1000 randomly taken observations. Also, a questionnaire was randomly distributed to a sample of 494 parents of children under the age of five.ResultsResults of the observational study show that 16.7% of parents restrain their children in moving motor vehicles. Questionnaire results show that approximately 9% of respondents reported not or rarely restraining their children in moving motor vehicles. Also, 3.4% of them indicated their disbelief in the importance of CRS in reducing harm in case of a crash. Moreover, questionnaire results indicate that young, less educated and male parents reported lower use rate and have less belief in the importance of CRS use in harm reduction in crashes than other groups of parents.ConclusionsCRS use in UAE is very low and awareness of its importance needs to be improved. Based on the results, practical suggestions are put forward to increase CRS use rate and improve safety conditions for this group of road users.