Implementation of laws concerning the compulsory use of child car seat on personal motor vehicles and safety standard of child car seat and ISOFIX systems

Road traffic injuries and fatality in Thailand are a critical public health problem. The road traffic fatalities occurred in Thailand as estimated by WHO was amounting to 24,237 deaths each year or according to the rate estimated by WHO of 36.2 deaths per 100,000 population. In every year, there are 100 -140 children who are under fourteen years of age perished on a motor vehicle from a traffic accident. Unfortunately, currently, there is no specific safety measure provided under Traffic Law with the purpose of preventing injury and death of children on a motor vehicle. Even though, the provision of the compulsory use of safety belt on motor vehicle was amended in traffic law recently requiring the driver and all passengers on motor vehicle to restrain his or her body with safety belt while travelling, however, the safety belts are invented and designed for mature persons whose bodies are appropriate to wear safety belt. Meanwhile, it may cause severe damage to the abdomen and internal organs of children whose bodies are restrained with safety belts. Currently, many countries have implemented the compulsory use of child car seat as a specific legal measure preventing the injury and death of children on a motor vehicle. Furthermore, these countries always specify the safety standards and product requirements of child car seat simultaneously in order to control product quality and increase effectiveness and efficiency for utmost children protection. In Thailand, the Traffic Law does not require a child to be restrained with child car seat but it requires all passengers to wear safety belts. In this case, the Traffic Law requiring a child on a motor vehicle to wear a safety belt is impractical and unenforceable. Additionally, the use of child car seat is a voluntary safety measure which depends on the parents’ discretion. Moreover, there is no national product standard for child car seats. Therefore, most of the low-price child car seat distributed in Thailand are manufactured and imported without standard certification. In some case, a standard child car seat cannot be used and installed on the particular model of motor vehicle. Thus it is necessary to amend the related Motor Vehicle Law by requiring newly manufactured motor vehicle to install a new connecting automotive part. This thesis mainly focuses on the Car Seat Law and car seat safety standard in developed countries where the fatality rates on traffic accident are low particularly EU Law, UK Law and US Law. According to the research, the proposed appropriate solution to overcome child injury and fatality on a motor vehicle is the compulsory measure through legal implementation and enforcement. Road Traffic Act should be amended and the compulsory use of child car seat on a motor vehicle should be implemented. At the same time, the industrial product standard for child car seat should be determined as a compulsory standard which adopting UN Regulation No.44 as equivalence to a national standard. Moreover, the ISOFIX anchorage and ISOFIX top tether should be a compulsory automotive part that is required by the law to be installed on motor vehicles.泰国的道路交通事故伤害与死亡是亟待解决的重大公共卫生问题。据世界卫生组织（WHO）估算，泰国每年因道路交通事故致死的人数达24237例，即每10万人口中有36.2人死于道路交通事故。每年约有100至140名14岁以下儿童在机动车交通事故中丧生。遗憾的是，当前泰国《道路交通法》并未制定专门用于预防机动车上儿童伤亡的安全措施。尽管近期该国修订了机动车安全带强制使用条款，要求驾驶员及所有乘车人员在行车过程中系紧安全带，但安全带的设计初衷是适配成年人体型，对儿童而言，安全带约束可能会对其腹部及内脏造成严重损伤。 目前已有诸多国家将强制使用儿童汽车安全座椅（child car seat）作为预防机动车儿童伤亡的专门法律措施，且同步配套制定了儿童汽车安全座椅的安全标准与产品要求，以管控产品质量、提升防护效能，最大限度保障儿童安全。在泰国，《道路交通法》并未要求儿童使用儿童汽车安全座椅，仅要求所有乘车人员系安全带。这一规定对儿童而言既不具备实用性，也难以执行；同时，儿童汽车安全座椅的使用属于自愿性安全措施，完全取决于家长的自主决定。此外，泰国尚无儿童汽车安全座椅的国家级产品标准，因此市面上流通的多数低价儿童汽车安全座椅均为未取得标准认证的生产或进口产品。部分情况下，符合标准的儿童汽车安全座椅无法在特定车型的机动车上安装使用，因此亟需修订相关机动车法律，要求新生产机动车加装专用连接汽车部件。 本论文重点研究了交通事故死亡率较低的发达国家的儿童汽车安全座椅相关法律及安全标准，尤其是欧盟法律、英国法律与美国法律。研究表明，解决机动车儿童伤亡问题的适宜方案是通过法律实施与执行的强制性措施。应修订《道路交通法》，强制要求机动车上使用儿童汽车安全座椅。同时，应将儿童汽车安全座椅的工业产品标准定为强制性标准，等效采用联合国法规第44号（UN Regulation No.44）作为国家标准。此外，ISOFIX锚点（ISOFIX anchorage）及ISOFIX顶部系带（ISOFIX top tether）应作为法定强制安装的汽车部件，要求在机动车上配置。