About 320 children and youth between the ages of five and 25 die every year due to road crashes. Some of these deaths could have been avoided if child restraint systems were in place.  

The Project Manager of LADA Institute, Ms Shirley Haizel-Ferguson, stated that the World Health Organization's 2023 Global Status Report indicated that road crashes are the leading cause of death among children and youth, causing significant health, social, and economic harm in society.

She made this known in a media sensitisation workshop organised by LADA Institute, in partnership with the Global Road Safety Partnership, International Federation of Red Cross, the Red Crescent Societies and the National Road Safety Authority on the use of child restraint equipment and seatbelts for children.

She emphasised that as of 2016, road crashes worldwide were the leading cause of death for children and youth aged five to 29 years, and the situation is no different in Ghana, urging the media to spread more awareness about child restraint systems.

"Data available with the National Road Safety Authority indicates that in 2021, 320 children between 0 to 15 years died in road crashes here in Ghana," Mrs. Haizel-Ferguson said. "This represents 11% of all crash deaths recorded. Between 2019 and 2021, 952 children died. Out of this number, 188 were children between zero to three years, 166 were between four to six years, 164 were between seven to nine years, and 434 were aged 10 to 17."

In response to these statistics, a Road Safety Consultant, Ekow Wilson-Asaam emphasised the need to have child restraint systems and spread awareness about them.

"We have special child restraint systems made for children who cannot fit into regular seatbelts provided in vehicles," Wilson-Asaam explained.

"These systems vary in types, and as children grow from age one to about age 14, the type of child restraint system they use should change accordingly."

Mr Wilson-Asaam believes the legal acts regarding child restraint systems have some loopholes that need to be amended.

He stressed that many children are killed or sustain serious injuries in crashes when they are not secured in a child restraint system.

He pointed out that it is already considered an offense to sell child restraint systems that do not meet the standard according to regulations and emphasised the need to utilise legislative instruments to enforce the law and uphold the standards once they are established.

“I think we need to fine-tune the existing regulations so that we know exactly the specifications for the child restraint systems that we should be using in this country,” he added.