To the Editor: The Australian Transport Council should be commended for approving the National Transport Commission’s revised road rules for the safety of children in motor vehicles.1 A key requirement is that children aged 4–7 years are to be restrained in an approved forward-facing child restraint or booster seat. It is expected that such changes, once enacted by states and territory governments, will result in fewer children being injured and killed.
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- 1 Accident Research Centre, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
- 2 Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion, Monash South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa.
- 3 Monash Centre for Regulatory Studies, Faculty of Law, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC.
- 1. National Transport Commission. Australian Road Rules. As approved by the Australian Transport Council. Canberra: National Road Transport Commission, Feb 2008. http://www.ntc.gov.au/filemedia/Reports/AustralianRoadRulesFebruary2008.pdf (accessed Sep 2008).
- 2. Zurynski YA, Bilston L, Elliott EJ. Booster seat use by children aged 4–11 years: evidence of the need to revise current Australasian standards to accommodate overweight children [letter]. Med J Aust 2008; 189: 183. <MJA full text>
- 3. Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand. Child restraint systems for use in motor vehicles, AS/NZS 1754: 2004 (incorporating Amendment No. 1). Sydney: Standards Australia and Standards New Zealand, 2004. http://www.saiglobal.com/PDFTemp/Previews/OSH/as/as1000/1700/1754-2004(+A1).pdf (accessed Sep 2008).
- 4. Fitzharris MP, Charlton J, Bohensky M, et al. Booster seat use by children aged 4–11 years: evidence of the need to revise current Australasian standards to accommodate overweight children. Med J Aust 2008; 188: 328-331. <MJA full text>