Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on the Number of Children Aged Below 12 who were injured in Taxis and Private Hire Cars from Not Wearing Seat Belts or Seated in Child Car Seats

Question:

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs of the number of children under 12 years old who were injured in taxis and private hire cars respectively in the past five years, how many were not (i) wearing seat belts and (ii) seated in child car seats at the time of the accident.

Answer:

Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of National Development:

1.   Mr Speaker, under the Road Traffic Act, we require all passengers to wear seat belts when travelling in motor vehicles. For passengers under 1.35 metres in height, we require them to be properly secured using approved child restraints, which include child car seats, or using seat belts when seated in booster seat cushions. The latter applies for all motor vehicles except taxis.

2.   Between 2018 and 2022, 48 children under 12 years old were injured in taxis. As the use of child restraints and seat belts when seated in a booster cushion for passengers under 1.35 metres in height is not required for taxis, we do not have readily available data on whether children were seated in child restraints or wearing seat belts during an accident.

3.   For private hire cars, between 2018 and 2022, 63 children under 12 years old were injured in private hire cars. At the time of the accident, 35 were not wearing seat belts. 28 were not secured using child restraints or seatbelts while on a booster cushion.