In light of the Ministry of Transport’s policy mandating the use of child restraint system (CRS) starting from 2020, Malaysia Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) has published the Buku Garis Panduan Kerusi Keselamatan Kanak-Kanak Di Malaysia (Guidebook on child restraint systems in Malaysia) at the Vehicle Safety Week 2019.
Officially launched by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the guidebook outlines the objectives and strategies for the certification compliance, sales in both business premises and online, as well as the enforcement of laws surrounding CRS that will come into effect on 1st January 2020.
Vehicle Safety Week, jointly organised by MIROS and New Car Assessment Program for Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN NCAP), aims to impart knowledge and increase awareness of the importance of road safety to the general public.
Highlighting this year’s Vehicle Safety Week were the two crash tests conducted at the Road Transport Academy in Melaka, with the second being the first car seat crash test open for viewing by the public.
The first crash test involved a BMW 318i traveling at 64 km/h in a frontal partial impact, while the second test saw a static 3 Series being hit by a solid cart traveling at 50 km/h towards its side.
The crash tests were conducted with Maxi-Cosi car seats, which are in compliance with the European Safety Standard ECE R44 – the standard that will be adopted by the Malaysian Government along with UN R129. In both cases, the car seats remained mounted in its original position after the test, holding the crash dummy in place and unharmed.
The Vehicle Safety Week also featured speeches from MIROS safety officers, medical practitioners, and child passenger safety technicians on the statistics of accidents involving children, child post-impact injury in vehicle accidents, and the importance of a proper child restraint system.
