UAE residents have been urged to take photographs of children in cars, who are either seated on the driver’s lap or in the front seat, and have that incident reported to the police.
Director General of Dubai’s Community Development Authority, Khaled Al Kamda said that this would hopefully teach parents to drive responsibly. He stated, “Putting a child in a driver’s lap places the child in a dangerous situation,” and “It is part of our moral duty to ensure a child is protected and if we see behaviour endangering a child it should be reported. He also added by saying “But one condition is the report and any photos should be sent only to the authority.
The Child Protection Law that came into effect in June 2016 permits residents to report incidents where care givers, relatives, neighbours or medical staff put a child’s life at risk. The law demands that people sitting in the front of a car must be strapped in.
Children under 10 years of age, are banned from sitting in the front seats, and the parents who let them face a AED 400 fine and will have four black points on their licence. Safety professionals have also said “A child held by a parent may be crushed or put through the windscreen in an accident”.
Salha Khalifa, an Emirati lawyer who works with both women and children, did raise a few concerns, by saying “Many of our cars have black windows so how can photos be taken?”. She also said that she was not comfortable with people taking photographs.
All we are saying is that if you have a child in the car, make sure you have him or her …or them strapped in appropriately. Buckle up UAE!
