Nothing can describe the pain a parent feels when losing a child. But a Cape Town woman who lived through such a nightmare is trying to save other parents from a similar experience.
Alida Jones, who lost a son in a car accident, is spearheading the ‘Child Safety in the Vehicle’ campaign - aimed at collecting used car seats to be distributed to parents who can’t afford them.
The campaign was launched after three children were killed on the N1 last December.
“My heart stopped. Jones said. “I could just imagine the devastation and hurt these families were going through, and how it will change their lives forever. It made me think about what we can do to save children’s lives on the road.”
She then thought about car seats, and that many people no longer had a use for them after their children had outgrown them.
Once she put out the word, the donations started pouring in.
The campaign was launched early this year in Cape Town, and in Johannesburg in April. Her associate, Peggie Mars, heads the campaign under the banner of Wheel Well in Joburg.
So far, 600 seats have been collected in Cape Town. The seats are cleaned and new covers are sewn on. Jones and her associates have also partnered with the traffic department and the refurbished seats are taken to roadblocks, where they are distributed to parents not using them. These parents pay R100 a seat.
Jones says anyone in need can apply for a car seat.
LeadSA, a Primedia and Cape Argus initiative, has joined the campaign, and the aim is to collect at least 3 000 seats ahead of the December holidays.
According to the Road Traffic Management Corporation, an average of 2250 children are killed in accidents annually. Jones’ research shows that children of lower-income families are five times more likely to be killed in a car crash.
She says that for an unrestrained child travelling in a car at 60km/h, a crash could be fatal. The impact will send the child through the windscreen at that speed, and it will only stop once its head hits something solid. This could easily be fatal, says Jones.
Karl Gostner, general manager of Primedia Cape Town, said in supporting National Transport Month, LeadSA was highlighting the particular concern about car seats for children.
“We have partnered with Alida because of her relentless fight to ensure that parents who can’t afford to buy them have the proper safety measures when travelling with their children,” Gostner said.
“It’s a given that child safety seats can substantially reduce the risk of injury for babies and toddlers.”
Gostner commended Jones’s efforts, and asked that parents donate their used car seats.
“We ask that parents do the right thing by donating their used baby car seats and take them to the designated collection points at various primary schools throughout the Cape,” he says.
Jones is so passionate about child safety that she often pulls up next to cars when she sees a child standing between the seats, or the driver is taking a cellphone call.
“ I ask them to love their child by safely strapping them in.”
Jones’s son Tommie Kloppers was killed in a collision on February 2, 1996. He was 20 years old.
“This plunged my life into the depths of despair. My whole life fell apart,” she said.
When she moved to Cape Town in 2006, her life changed. The mathematics teacher knew nothing about road safety at the time, but it was in Cape Town that she started training as a driving instructor.
During her training, Jones realised the need to change driver training to have an impact on road safety and deaths.
Drive More Safely was registered in 2009. Its aim is to provide road safety education and training in a bid to reduce the accident rate and road fatalities.
Jones and her colleagues are gearing up for another festive season campaign, called “Take a Break”.
They will set up camp between Laingsburg and Beaufort West from December 15 to January 6, and drivers will be able to pull over there, be served tea and coffee, and have their blood pressure monitored. The presence of child safety seats will also be checked.
She says volunteers and sponsorships will be needed.
The car seat collection drive, in association with LeadSA, starts today.
Car seats can be dropped off at the following schools:
Monday: Edgemead Primary in Denison Way, Edgemead, from 12.45pm to 2pm.
Tuesday: SACS Primary in Dean Street, Newlands, from 7.30 to 8am, and Somerset College in Bredell Street, Somerset West, from 12.45pm to 2pm.
Wednesday: Parklands College in Wood Drive, Parklands, from 7.30 to 8am, and Eversdal Primary in Stepping Stones Road, Eversdal, from 12.45pm to 2pm.
Thursday: Grove Primary in Grove Avenue, Claremont, from 12.45pm to 2pm.
Seats may also be dropped off at the Primedia studios at Suite 7d, Somerset Square, Highfield Road, Cape Town. - Cape Argus