Volkswagen champions child safety

A child tries a Volkswagen safety seat.

Volkswagen China continues to raise awareness of safety among Chinese parents after it held a child seat program with the China Women's Development Foundation in Beijing on May 22.

As a part of the program, the group and its joint ventures, FAW-VW and Shanghai VW, donated 320 child safety seats to new mothers and mothers-to-be in the capital through kindergartens and maternal and child care service centers.

"We take it as our responsibility to promote the importance of safety seats and help ensure children's safety in cars," said Yang Meihong, vice-president of Volkswagen China.

Yang said the group planned to hold similar programs in 17 cities across the country this year.

The initiative is a part of a charity program that the German automaker started at the Guangzhou Auto Show in 2013.

Official statistics show more than 18,500 people under the age of 14 die in car accidents in China every year.

The top reason for the deaths is the infrequent use of car seats, according to the road safety research center at the Ministry of Public Security.

A researcher at the center said only 0.04 percent of private cars use car seats for kids, which is far lower than the figure in Europe and the US.

A 2013 survey by the China Automotive Technology & Research Center revealed that 65 percent of respondents prefer to hold their children on their laps while sitting in the front of the car and nearly 33 percent said they leave their children in the back without safety seats.

"Children's safety in cars is a question of not children but adults," said Qin Guoying, secretary-general of the China Women's Development Foundation at the event.

"It is important to raise the awareness of parents and let the parents know that if their child is in a child seat they are safe in a car," said Qin.

The Volkswagen event also included interactive activities. Members of staff demonstrated how to install and use child seats and shared information on child safety.

According to the automotive research center's report, most child safety seat retailers do not provide installation services despite the fact that an incorrectly installed seat can leave a child even more vulnerable in the case of an accident.

The Chinese government is also increasingly concerned about child safety amid the rise of China's auto sales.

From September 2015 safety seats sold in China will be required to undergo quality certification tests, according to the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Safety seats will be required to have a CCC mark - short for China Compulsory Certificate - a mandatory quality certificate for products sold and used in the country.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn