A new study examining almost 40,000 auto accidents from 2002-2006, where children were injured, determined that Asian Americans were most likely to have their child restrained, either with a seat belt or child seat, with 59.3% of Asian American children involved in auto accidents actually having used restraints, compared with an overall rate of 47.5 percent of child accident patients who were restrained. Of black patients, 39.5 percent were restrained at the time of the accident, while 39 percent of Hispanics, 36.8 percent of native Americans were restrained, and whites at 48.8 percent.
Personally, I can’t believe anyone would put their child in a car without a seat belt or car seat. I’ve had to make do with just a seat belt in a taxi cab with my daughter in Las Vegas, but whenever we’ve rented a car or driven her anywhere since we took her home from the hospital, she’s been in a child car seat, that is with one exception. That exception was the week I took my daughter to Taiwan. In Taiwan, Taipei specifically, it was normal to take taxis where we needed to go, but it was rare to have enough room that my daughter could actually get to use a seat belt. Typically we were crowded with family, and she sat on my lap for most taxi rides.
During that week, I worried constantly about the lack of seat belts, the crowded transportation rides. Of course nothing happened, and I probably worried more than I needed to. None of my relatives in Taiwan used child car seats for their children. But it’s interesting to note that Taiwan did implement car seat rules for children under 18kg in weight, effective June 1, 2004. And perhaps more interesting, that rules for back seat passengers wearing seat belts took effect last year on August 1, 2011, with fines going into effect this year in 2012. But sadly even with the new rules, in Taiwan, 4 to 12 year olds riding in the back seat of a taxi are exempt (meaning they do not need to buckle up).
But I digress. It’s actually sad to see so many children were allowed to travel without seat belts or child safety seats. I’m sure the lack of either contributed to their injuries. While it’s good news that Asian Americans are more diligent in this respect, this is one topic that race shouldn’t matter in. All children should be buckled up for safety, and once you do it’s a habit they take with them where ever they go. My own daughter was probably even more distraught than I was at the lack of a seat belt in many of the taxis we rode in during our trip to Taipei. And that’s a good thing.
