I am pleased to welcome you, on behalf of the Norwegian embassy and of the company BeSafe, to this seminar.
As a father of two and grand-father of another two, soon to be three, I find of course the topic of child safety in cars to be very important.
But also as Norwegian ambassador in Greece I find the topic to be very important. I do not like what I see much too often in the busy streets of Athens where parents drive with their children as unsecured passengers.
The Embassy is therefore glad to be able to co-host this event, because we think it can help make a difference. And if it can help make a difference, then it will also help save the life of many young ones.
High numbers
According to UNICEF and the World Health Organization, road accidents are responsible for 260.000 child deaths every year, while another 10 million are injured. That means that more than 700 children die every day, or one every two minutes.
Among young people under 20 years of age, traffic incidents are the number one cause of accidental deaths.
It is important that we work to find the best way to keep children safe on the roads. The main way we can do this, is to make sure children are properly fastened to their seats. Statistical reports show that a high percentage of the fatal injuries could have been avoided with proper car seat and belt use.
Start early
In Norway, traffic safety is something we try to teach our children at an early age. It is important to educate people early and there is no doubt that insisting that they use seat belts from an early age, gives them good habits for the future.
When it comes to infants, the use of a specially designed car seat can be the difference between life and death. Our co-organizer today, BeSafe, promotes rear facing car seats, which are very common in Norway, and I think in other Scandinavian countries as well. Sitting rear faced is about five times safer for infants than facing forward, which I am sure the next speakers will tell you more about.
To realize the importance of seat belts and special seats for safety is most of all a question of mentality, of attitudes. To ensure that our children are as safe as possible on the roads, everyone needs to be aware of the risks and how things can be improved. Information and public awareness-raising is the key to meet this challenge. In this context the crucial role that media must play should be emphasized.
Laws are needed
The same goes for enforcement. If safety reasons say infants should be in special seats, then next step is to make that mandatory. In Norway one will often be given a ticket for not fastening children properly in the car.
Even if a driver’s own safety and that of passengers should be strong enough incentive, people are even more inclined to follow the rules when they know there is a potential fine for violating the rule.
I wish you all a successful seminar.
But much more important, I wish a number of unknown and unidentified children at risk a very successful seminar. Thank you for your commitment to an important cause.