23/10/2017

Towards a nation-wide child seat check-up

Through an agreement with the Ministry of the Interior, the "Child Occupant Safety Training Program" was held from 17 to 21 October at the National Traffic Police headquarters, with the participation of representatives of the Community Police, National Traffic Police, staff of the education department from the traffic and transport divisions of five municipalities, students from Don Bosco workshops, and officials from the State Insurance Bank.

This course was the initial step to create a nation-wide network aiming to decentralize the Check-up Point - free advice service on the correct installation of Child Restraint Systems - provided by the Fundación since 2012 at the Uruguayan Automobile Club headquarters in Montevideo.

The course was given by certified technicians in Child Occupant Safety from Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez Foundation. It provided attendees with up-to-date theoretical and practical information on different mobility characteristics of children.

Topics included were: child occupant safety; the child as a pedestrian; child transport on motorcycles; school transportation; national and international regulations on road safety and best practices, among others.

The objective was to get participants to replicate the knowledge acquired in their respective social environment.  And, in the case of Municipalities, the National Traffic Police and Community Police, to enable them to set up a service to provide advice on seat and booster installation in different places across the country.

Through these types of actions, Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez promotes awareness and evidences the need for the mandatory use of Child Restraint Systems, a law currently in force in Uruguay and complied with by 23% of parents transporting children by car, according to data from UNASEV.