483 Child restraint seat law in Malaysia 2019: post-policy commitment begins

<h3>Background</h3> In 2022, Malaysia records road crashes every 60 seconds and fatalities every 90 minutes. Car passengers take up close to 18% of total road fatalities and need to be restrained to prevent injuries. In December 2019, the government passed the new law on Child Restraints Seat (CRS). However, the implementation was deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic and movement control order. As children resume travel in this post-pandemic phase, there is a vital need to provide a safe travel environment for them in their cars. Thus, implementing the law is not the only means to increase the usage of CRS. Self-compliance in realizing the benefit of a safety product is also a means to be explored by families, institutions, and employer organizations. <h3>Objective</h3> This paper aims to share the need for continuous commitment and strong support in the post-stage of the Child Restraint Seat Law in Malaysia passed and gazed in December 2019. <h3>Policy Analysis: </h3> Every passenger traveling in a car needs to be restrained for their safety. For an adult is a seat belt and for a child is a Child Restraint Seat which can prevent fatalities by 70% among infants and 54% among children aged 1–4 years old. Three main factors play a crucial role in the success of the CRS policy: i). Standard of CRS has to be there either national or adopted globally, ii). Requirement criteria for the CRS on who requires and not and iii). Proper installation of CRS. <h3>Policy Implications</h3> This policy will work at its full benefit subject to related policies: seat belt usage by all adult passengers traveling in a car together and the speed compliance of the traveling car. Thus any success on the CRS policy is very much dependable on the other two closely related policies – rear seat belt usage by adults and vehicle speed. <h3>Conclusions</h3> While waiting for the passed CRS law to be implemented, road users and local stakeholders can start changing our behavior by using and promoting the usage of CRS. In addition, CRS retailers can help with proper installation.