Hong Kong motorist group welcomes plan for stricter laws on child safety in cars

A Hong Kong motorists’ group has welcomed the government’s proposal to tighten regulations concerning child safety in cars after the city recorded a sharp rise in the number of youngsters suffering injuries in road accidents this year.

Ringo Lee Yiu-pui, president of the Hong Kong Automobile Association, on Thursday said the proposal was timely as more highways were being built in the city, with residents embarking on more road trips to mainland China and electric cars becoming more popular.

“In Hong Kong, drivers or parents have less knowledge about child safety in cars because it is not highly regulated,” he told a radio programme. “Children under the age of one are fragile and cannot handle the hard impact of an accident, so holding or carrying them in a car is very dangerous.”

The Transport Department on Wednesday proposed four legal amendments to improve safety in vehicles, including requiring children aged seven or below and shorter than 1.35m (4.4ft) to be secured with restraints in private cars.

It said it was aiming to submit the amendments to the legislature for scrutiny next year.

Restraints encompass infant and toddler car seats, as well as seat belts for older children.

Statistics from the department showed that in the first 11 months of the year, 359 children aged 12 or under were injured in traffic accidents, a 55 per cent increase from 231 logged in 2022.

More than 15 per cent of the children who were injured were not wearing safety belts or using restraints such as safety seats.

8-month-old Hong Kong baby flung from car during accident in critical condition

The law mandates restraining devices, such as car seats, for children under the age of three sitting in the front seat.

Children aged three to 12 sitting in the rear have to wear seat belts but car seats are not mandatory. The department recommends that young children sit in the back of a vehicle.

Only adults in the front seat are not allowed to hold children in their arms or on their laps.

Lee said regulations, which were put in place when Hong Kong had fewer highways, had to change to include more protection for children.

“When there’s an accident, our reflexes will brace ourselves for impact, so we either let go of the baby, or we tighten our grip on them. Even at 40km/h, a child weighing 10kg will be hit with about 300kg of force during a crash. Legislation is a must,” he said.

Lee urged the government to ensure the city’s laws on car safety were on par with the rest of the world, as more than 100 countries had legislation addressing such issues.

He added that studies showed that using an infant seat reduced the risk of death for those under the age of one by 71 per cent.

The calls for tighter regulations on child safety came after an eight-month-old infant was flung out of a car during an accident on Tolo Highway last month.

A domestic helper was holding the baby and both were hurled onto the road when the car crashed into a barrier. It was unclear whether the passengers were wearing a seat belt.

The baby suffered injuries to his head and arms and was admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit.

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The father was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.

Countries such as Japan, the UK, the US and Canada have strict car seat laws according to the child’s age and they also cover whether the seat should be front- or rear-facing.

Australia and New Zealand have even stricter laws regulating which car seat models are allowed.

Singapore requires anyone shorter than 1.35m to be secured with an appropriate restraint, such as a booster seat or an adjustable seat belt.

Transport authorities proposed three other vehicle safety amendments, including stricter regulations on the quantity, size and positioning of mobile phones used by drivers while driving.

The department also proposed extending the requirement to wear seat belts to cover all vehicles such as goods vehicles and public buses, and requiring cyclists, drivers and passengers of motor tricycles and sidecar passengers to wear helmets.