#CarSeatFullStop is a national car seat awareness initiative that launched in July 2016. Local mom, Mandy Lee Miller, who is a blogger and entrepreneur, began researching and learning more on car seat safety and it grew from there.
The #CarSeatFullStop goal is to create and maintain high levels of awareness of the critical importance of child safety seats in every child under the age of 12. They offer well researched, educated, responsible guidance for South African families to keep their little ones safe on our roads.
As an awareness initiative, their call to action is for people to follow the campaign, specifically on social media… and SHARE all the content as far and wide as possible.
“With statistics saying that up to 93% of South Africans aren’t strapping in their kids… we all know somebody who is adding to that number,” says Mandy. “You have the power to save a little life. One share, seen by one person, who straps in one child, saves a life.”
#CarSeatFullStop sees local parenting influencers and media sharing personal, easy-to-relate-to and -understand content, relevant to the South African market. They want to make sure that if the worst happens, you KNOW that you have done every single thing you can to keep your child, grandchild, niece or nephew, or any child you care enough for to be travelling with – as safe as they possibly can be.
The core message of #CarSeatFullStop is that every single child in a car needs to be strapped safely into a car seat every single time – no matter what.
“South African children are dying every day because their caregivers don’t know…” says Miller. “They don’t know that a normal car seatbelt can kill a child. They don’t know that the slightest mistake in installing their car seat or securing their child in that seat might mean that the seat won’t work… Most importantly, they don’t know – or fully understand – that a car seat is needed by every child under 1.5m tall every single time they get into a car. No parent should lose a child because they didn’t know. #CarSeatFullStop. Every child. Every time. No matter what.”
#CarSeatFullStop welcomes everybody to find them online and ask any questions, no matter how small. And get involved! If something resonates with you or shocks you, share it with your communities – you never know who might see it and make that change.