BEGINNING this month, the Transport Ministry will compel all manufacturers of passenger vehicles to fit their models with the three-point seatbelt, as the lapbelt, in most cars found in the rear centre seat, will be banned.
Road Transport Department automotive engineering director Datuk Mohamad Dalib told this paper that crash impact tests carried out by industry experts had proven that while the lapbelt could prevent its user from being thrown out of a vehicle in an accident, the pressure the lapbelt puts on the human body could cause serious injuries, and even death. Among these injuries were horrific things, such as the severing of torsos and damage to abdominal walls, kidneys, bladders, intestines, aorta, spleen and uterus, leading to death.
Mohamad said the ministry had adopted the United Nations Vehicle Regulations related to seatbelts, which had been incorporated in the Road Transport Rules (Construction Use) 1959.
In fact, the regulations he was talking about, R14 and R16, had been incorporated in 2007 and 2011, meaning that passenger vehicles built in 2012 onwards should not have had lapbelts.
Those regulations, actually, were the culmination of the work of safety experts who had long known that the lapbelt, otherwise known as two-point belt, was not the most ideal when it came to preventing injury or death in accidents. Years of testing and studying road crash injuries and deaths had brought them the understanding.
Simply applying logic and a little knowledge of physics would lead to this conclusion. A lapbelt concentrates all the pressure during an accident in one area, while a three-point belt distributes it more evenly. And, this was confirmed by Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research officer Yahaya Ahmad.
Countries, such as Austria and Japan, have banned lapbelts, and a recent trip to the United States showed that newer vehicles had three-point belts in the rear centre seats.
The move by the ministry, then, is long overdue. But, as the saying goes, “better late than never”.
The next move should be making the use of child safety seats in vehicles mandatory. The last anyone heard of this, the move is set for next year, though when exactly this will come about is not known. While it could be January next year, enforcement of the ruling may not be done for a while after that, as long as a year after, perhaps.
Again, safety experts have long advocated the use of child seats in vehicles, but in Malaysia, we have been slow in implementing such standards. Why that is so is anybody’s guess. Studies have shown that child safety seats increase not only the chances of survival in the event of an accident, but also significantly reduces the risk of severe injury. There have even been cases of children in car seats surviving accidents which killed everyone else involved.
In most developed countries, the use of child safety seats is mandatory.
In the US, most if not all the states have this as a ruling. Every state has its own ruling and standards. For instance, in California, every child below the age of 8, or below a certain height or weight, must be placed in a child safety seat. Nearby Washington state, meanwhile, has the same age for child seats, but adds that those below 13 cannot sit in the front seat of a vehicle.
What the regulations would be when Malaysia hopefully implements this is not known right now, but one thing is for sure, it will mean nothing without proper enforcement.
Banning lapbelts is easy enough. No three-point seatbelt, no approval for sale here. But enforcing the use of child safety seats in cars is a different thing altogether.
These safety matters could go a long way towards bringing down the number of road deaths we see each year. It may not help decrease the statistics where road crashes are concerned, but better safety precautions should bring down the number of serious injuries and deaths.
Ultimately, though, we should aim to bring down the number of accidents as well. Let’s face it, if there are fewer accidents, then chances are there will be fewer deaths. The only way this can be achieved though, is if we change mindsets.
We are talking, here, of changing the mindsets of the Malaysian motorist and vehicle owner, as well as those who maintain our roads.
If the Malaysian motorist drives responsibly, and vehicle owners take proper care of their vehicles (private or public), there will be less accidents. And keeping roads, whether heavily used or not, properly maintained will also help.
Until then, we will continue to see 6,000 or more people killed on our roads every year.
Leslie Andres has more than two decades of experience, much of which has been spent writing about crime and the military. A die-hard Red Devil, he can usually be found wearing a Manchester United jersey when outside of work. He can be reached via lesliea@nst.com.my