Baby Car Seat Helps Save Babies' Lives in Accident

　　Around half of all injuries and deaths to children in China in car crashes could be prevented by using a child seat. [Photo: auto¹.sina.com.cn]

 

　　The latest figures released by the Public Security Bureau shows that around half of all injuries and deaths to children in China in car crashes could be prevented by using a child seat. Yet few Chinese parents use one.

 

　　Zhou Heyang has more.

 

　　Until children car passengers are tall enough to wear a normal seat belt, they need to use a child seat. The importance of this has been highlighted recently by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the US. They found using these seats can reduce fatal injuries in car crashes by up to 71 percent.

 

　　Yet in China few parents use these potentially life-saving seats.

 

　　Here, it's common to see children in the front seat of a car on an adult's lap, or sitting freely in the back seat. If parents were aware of the recently released statistics in the US, would they change their ways? We asked a number of Chinese parents their views on driving with children.

 

　　"I put him in the front of the car. It's safer this way, because he's next to me."

 

　　"My child likes to wriggle² around so I think it's safer to hold him on my lap."

 

　　"I tell my kid to sit in the back with the seatbelt fastened. This should be safe."

 

　　But experts warn of tragic³ results because of such habits. Sitting a child in the front of a car could be very dangerous. Children can be injured by the airbags suddenly inflating⁴ during a crash.

 

　　Holding the child is also a bad idea. The inertia⁵ generated in a crash can multiply a child's weight thirty times making it impossible for a parent to keep hold.

 

　　And using conventional seatbelts can also cause harm because they're designed for adults. They can even suffocate⁶ children in a strong collision.

 

　　Such dangers have led experts to recommend child safety seats because they significantly lower risks for children.

 

　　Liu Yuguang is deputy chief engineer of China Automobile⁷ Technology Research Center:

 

　　"Child safety seats can confine the movement of a child in the car even during big collisions. This should be adopted by all parents that drive with children under the age of 12."

 

　　When using child safety seats one belt crosses the child's upper thighs⁸ and another goes over the chest.

 

　　In general, kids should ride in the back seat until they're 13, and use a car safety seat if they're less than 1.45 meters tall.

 

　　The best way to protect kids in a car is to use the right seat, at the right time, and use it the right way.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Zhou Heyang.

1 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

2 wriggle   

v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒

参考例句：

• I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
• Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 inflating   

v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的现在分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• I felt myself inflating slowly with rage, like a tyre. 我感到自己体内的怒气正慢慢膨胀，像一只轮胎那样。 来自互联网
• Many are already overheating, with prices rising and asset bubbles inflating. 随着物价日益上涨、资产泡沫膨胀，很多新兴国家经济已经过热。 来自互联网

5 inertia   

adj.惰性，惯性，懒惰，迟钝

参考例句：

• We had a feeling of inertia in the afternoon.下午我们感觉很懒。
• Inertia carried the plane onto the ground.飞机靠惯性着陆。

6 suffocate   

vt.使窒息，使缺氧，阻碍；vi.窒息，窒息而亡，阻碍发展

参考例句：

• If you shut all the windows,I will suffocate.如果你把窗户全部关起来，我就会闷死。
• The stale air made us suffocate.浑浊的空气使我们感到窒息。

7 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

8 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》