Don't Keep Children On Your Lap: Motor Vehicle Inspector [Video]

Road accidents involving infants have lately been on the rise in India. The kids die in many of these cases. Unsafe seating of the child is a major reason for such deaths. Parents often tend to make the baby sit on the front (co-driver's) seat, and the same could turn out to be fatal for the child in the event of a crash. Recently, a Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) from Kerala explained why it is a terrible idea to make the child sit in the mother's lap, on the front seat.

Sujith Bhakthan is a well-known travel influencer and content creator from Kerala. In a podcast shared on his channel, Vinod Kumar, the serving MVI at RTO Enforcement, Kakkanad, explained the hazards of seating the child in the front row. He starts by explaining the scenario. Many parents tend to have their baby seated on the mother's lap when they are out on a drive.

The dad would be driving and the mom would be seated in the front passenger seat. Both of them would have their seatbelts fastened as well. The baby would be in the mother's lap. People do this thinking that babies are the safest in mom's hands. The MVI says that a baby finds its heaven in the mother's lap, only when the both of them are home, on a sofa. It isn't the same when they are in a moving vehicle.

The MVI then goes on to explain the risks with examples. In the case of a sudden, unprecedented braking, the child could hit the dashboard and take severe injuries. Things will be much worse in the event of a crash.

Modern vehicles come equipped with multiple airbags, which won't go easy on the child seated in the mother's lap. When deployed, the airbags could suffocate the baby to death! The force with which they open can also cause injuries and possible dislocations.

The Inspector then gives the example of violinist Balabhasker, who died in a car crash. Quite respected on his work front, he was travelling with his wife and child, when the car got involved in a horrific crash. The baby was seated in her mother's lap, in the co-driver's seat, while the musician sat in the second row of their Innova. The baby died on the spot and the violinist succumbed later.

In a more recent occurrence, another two-year-old died after being suffocated by the airbags of a crashed car. This accident prompted the Kerala Motor Vehicle Department to take immediate measures to ensure child safety and promote the use of proper child seats when travelling with kids.

The South Indian state's Motor Vehicle Department organized events and held campaigns to raise awareness among the public on this issue. The MVI here, has also been actively conducting lectures and orientation programs around the topic. The department made active use of social media to do campaigns and to get the message out to people.

They would also stop vehicles with kids seated in the front row and inform the parents of the risks involved. These measures seem to be slowly fetching results in Kerala, as more people have started to use child restraint systems and seats lately.

Travelling With Infants: How To Do It Right?

Toddlers should be seated in high-quality child seats. These can be mounted safely on the rear or middle rows. These keep the baby safe and comfortable even in tricky scenarios. Specialized summer and winter padders can be added to the seat for added comfort. Placing the baby seat in the front row is a bad idea as well. They should always be placed in the rear row, using ISOFIX mounts.