Make sure our children wear helmets on motorcycles

Study shows that 50% of students arriving to school by motorcycle do not wear helmets or chin straps, exposing them to risk of severe injury.

COMMENT

By Dr Amar-Singh HSS, Dr Netia-Jeganathan, Dr Kavita-Jetly and Ang Ju Ying

We would like to thank the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) for their recent enforcement at schools to support the safety of students. The enforcement activities by PDRM revealed the problem of children travelling to and from school in a dangerous manner, ie. on motorcycles without helmets.

The Clinical Research Centre Perak (CRC Perak) would like to highlight the extensive and serious failure of student motorcyclists and pillion riders to use helmets.

We conducted a study in October 2016 and randomly sampled 20 out of 70 national secondary schools present in the Kinta district. Trained researchers observed the usage of helmets and chin straps among students travelling to school via motorcycle.

A total of 4,193 students were observed arriving at the 20 randomly selected national schools. The majority arrived by motorcycle (1,637 students, 39%). The remaining students arrived by car/van (33%), school bus (9%), bicycle 272 (7%) or walked (12%).

Of the 1,637 students that arrived via motorcycle, almost half (44%) did not use a helmet. Those who wore helmets were not necessarily safe as 15% did not use the chin strap. Hence, more than half of all our children travelling to school by motorcycle are risking their lives.

The infographic shows the breakdown of this unsafe behaviour with respect to a student travelling alone, with a pillion rider or with a non-student (parent or relative). Note that student pillion riders were the least protected if brought to school by an adult, suggesting the failure of parents to support their children.

This large study clearly demonstrates that more than 50% of students arriving to school by motorcycle do not wear helmets or chin straps. These children are exposed to risk of severe injury.

An earlier study by CRC Perak showed that on average, 1,000 children die on our roads yearly, the vast majority in motorcycle-related accidents. In addition, four times as many children (4,000) incur serious injuries. For those of us who are paediatricians and run paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) for children, it has become our daily horror to tend to mangled children due to motorcycle crashes. Some die and many, sadly, become permanently disabled due to head injuries.

We are aware as a nation about this long standing, ongoing crisis of motorcycle injuries. But we may not be aware of the enormous impact it is having on the lives of our children and we have yet to put in place any concerted action to change the situation.

No child should travel to school on a motorcycle without adequate protection, ie. a certified helmet, properly strapped. Parents have a vital role to play here but seem to fail in the majority of children.

We hope the education ministry and school authorities can work proactively with the Road Transport Department and PDRM to enforce helmet and chin strap usage among students arriving by motorcycle. We hope teachers can play a role to help ensure that no child is allowed to travel to school in an unsafe manner.

Dr Amar-Singh HSS is head of the Clinical Research Centre Perak, Dr Netia-Jeganathan and Dr Kavita-Jetly are medical officers (research), and FMT