Dubai: Mothers of babies born during the recent Eid Al Etihad celebrations were gifted free child car seats by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai.
Around 450 child car seats were handed over to mothers who gave birth between December 1 and 5 across 24 hospitals participating in the initiative.
Hussain Al Banna, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, praised the partners and supporters of the ‘My Baby’s Gift on Eid Al Etihad’ initiative, including Dubai Police, Dubai Health Authority, and UNICEF.
“The initiative aims to offer every newborn in Dubai hospitals during Eid Al Etihad celebrations with a free child car seat. Hospitals are supplied with many car seats based on the expected number of births during the celebration period,” Al Banna said.
He added that the initiative is part of the awareness efforts targeting specific community groups under Dubai’s Traffic Safety Strategy. ‘My Baby’s Gift on Eid Al Etihad’ initiative has distributed over 2,000 child car seats to mothers in hospitals during Eid Al Etihad celebrations over the past five years.
Al Banna stressed the importance of parents ensuring their children are seated in designated car seats while driving. He added that global studies indicate that properly using child car seats reduces injuries and fatalities among children by 54 per cent and by 71 per cent for newborns. Additionally, child car seats help reduce traffic-related injuries among children aged 4 to 8 years by 45 per cent.
The CEO of the Traffic and Roads Agency urged parents to adhere to traffic safety rules while driving. He highlighted the importance of using child car seats when travelling with newborns, emphasising that children under 10 or those shorter than 145cm are not allowed to sit in the front seat. This violation carries a fine of Dh400. Additionally transporting children aged 4 years and under without appropriate child protection seats also results a fine of Dh400.
