RECENTLY, at the Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi, Dr Khushbu Balsara, a post-doctoral researcher at the Johns Hopkins I nternational Injury Research Unit, Johns H o pkins B l oomberg School of Public Health presented her groundbreaking study,‘Acomparative analysis of global childrestraint use in nine cities,’ at the Safety 2024 conference. Funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the research emphasised the critical need for standardised child car seat regulations toreduce preventableinjuriesin children acrossthe globe.

 

Globally, road traffic injuries are aleading cause of death in children, with over 90% of child road trafficdeathsoccurringinlow- and middleincome countries. Road traffic deathsare the leadingcause of death forchildren over the age of 5, yetdata on child restraint system(CRS) use is scarce in manyregions. Dr Balsaracalled forstrongerglobal action, urging governments to introduce comprehensive CRS laws and improveen forcement.