As I was waiting for the traffic lights to turn green today, I was distracted by some motions going on in the car beside me.
When I turned to look, I was horrified to see two kids, who could not have been more than 2 or 3 years old jumping around in the back seat of the car, totally oblivious to the fact that their lives were in danger. There were two adults in the car, one was the driver, and the other the co-driver. And from where I was, it appeared that the two kids at the back were *attacking* the two adults. Kid number 1 wrapped her arms around the neck of the co-driver and kid number 2 pulled at the driver’s hair. When the car started moving, the kids did not stop their antics. In fact, I saw the kids’ legs dangling high up in the air while he/she grabbed onto the headrest of the co-driver seat.
I hate to think what could have happened if one of the kids did something to distract or disturb the driver. What if the driver was *accidentally* strangled by the kid, or (shudder) what if one of the kids suddenly decided to cover his Daddy’s eyes?!!
Whatever happened to the ruling for ALL backseat passengers to “buckle up or else”? What on earth happened to the enforcement of this ruling?
True, those kids would have been too small for the seatbelts to fit them, but surely they could have been in toddler car seats? Many parents cite costliness as the reason why their kids are not strapped into carseats, which leads me to think that our dear government should give this serious thought.
How about tax relief, or better yet, tax rebate, for infant/toddler seats in cars? Come on, Mister Prime Minister, we ALL know very well that the RM1,000 tax relief per child is not sufficient! The government should do something about the child car seat *problem* pronto…something that would *entice* the citizens of Malaysia to look at safety for their kids in a different light.
What good is the tax relief for purchase of books (to cultivate the reading habit amongst our future generation) and the tax rebate for purchase of computer (to promote information technology awareness in the community), if the lives of the future generation is in jeopardy?
Little Miracles
Our Journey of Love
Not tax relief.. Shud be driver to be jailed. Instantly.
If no one wants to buckle up. That’s what will wake these ppl up. But.. enforcement and bribery are unfortunate partners.