Free child seat rental for needy families this Raya
We cannot stress enough the importance of being buckled up in a journey. In the event of an accident, and accidents happen whether you’re a careful driver or not, any unsecured object in a vehicle becomes a projectile that can be hurled in unpredictable directions and at forces beyond our imagination.
It is therefore important that all occupants in a moving vehicle be securely fastened at all times, and in the case of small children, the importance of being encased in a properly-installed child seat becomes paramount. Children, we must remember, are not only smaller in body size than adults, but their bodies are also physically less resilient in dealing with the forces generated by a motor vehicle collision.
The cost of purchasing child seats are unfortunately not cheap, and whilst we may sound noble in saying things along the lines of ‘you cannot put a monetary value on a child’s life’, the fact is that many families out there struggle badly enough to make ends meet that they have no choice but to take chances on something as elementary as safety.
Recently, our peers over at paultan.org embarked on a noble campaign by acquiring 50 child seats to be loaned out to members of the public without charge. The seat in question is the SNSKIDZ Star convertible car seat, an EC R44-compliant seat which can be used both rear-facing (0-10 kg) or forward-facing (10-25 kg).
Helping to expand the campaign, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has stepped in to sponsor an additional 110 seats as an extension of its ‘MobileKids’ road safety for children corporate social responsibility programme. These 110 seats are ECE-R44 compliant as well with ISOFIX (up to 18kg) and non-ISOFIX (up to 25kg) variants both available. These seats can be installed in both rear- and front-facing configuration.
Initial implementation of the programme was meant to conclude on 31 July, as stated in the original announcement posted on paultan.org, but website founder Paul Tan himself has confirmed to us that the programme’s duration will now run for a six-month duration from July to December 2015. Each individual family is will only be given the seat for one month to use. A fully-refundable deposit of RM150 (non-ISOFIX) or RM300 (ISOFIX) is applicable.
This year, also in conjunction with the Hari Raya season, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia will start its MobileKids 2015 showcase at The School Jaya One, Petaling Jaya. Parked at Level 1 and open from 11 am to 7 pm daily, MobileKids 2015 will be remain at its location until the end of this year.
Pictures: Official Mercedes-Benz release.
