CHILDREN AS FRONT SEAT PASSENGERS - FREQUENCY OF AN UNSAFE PRACTICE, AND ITS PROJECTED IMPACT ON CAR SAFETY LEGISLATION IN SAUDI-ARABIA

In Saudi Arabia, one in five of victims of road traffic accidents is a child and the unrestrained child passenger is at great risk of seriou s injury or death. We have surveyed 456 Saudi nationals in the Eastern Province and have here analysed 390 responses concerning children as front seat passengers. Overall, only 10-15% responded wrongly irrespec tive of age group and level of education, and difficulty in settling c hildren down in the backseat was their most common reason (41%). We ha ve argued that, from the literature, legislation is the most effective , fastest, and safest way to induce positive change and that our figur es would suggest that if car seat legislation were to be introduced in Saudi Arabia the prospects of general acceptance would be good.