Action plan to make CRS affordable

The Alliance for Safe Community chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye calls for an action plan to make the Child Restraint System (CRS), better known as child car seats, more affordable. - NSTP file pic

KUALA LUMPUR: The Alliance for Safe Community today called on the government to come up with an action plan to make the Child Restraint System (CRS), better known as child car seats, more affordable.

Its chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the move will ensure better adoption of CRS, in line with the government's decision to make the use of child car seats mandatory.

He said the government should consider offering tax relief for the purchase of CRS to encourage its usage.

Giving examples of tax relief of RM1,000 for the purchase of breastfeeding equipment, as well as for the purchase of books and computers, Lee said: "The government should consider the same kind of tax relief on matters concerning road safety."

Lee said manufacturers could also do their part by reducing the cost of manufacturing CRS with help from the government.

"The government should ensure that the CRS products obtained the Sirim Berhad (Sirim) approval," he said.

He said this in response to a news report titled "CRS beyond the reach of most parents" published in the New Straits Times today.

In the news report, it was revealed that 70 per cent of parents could not afford to buy the CRS, based on a survey conducted by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros).

The survey, among others, highlighted the concerns of affordability faced by respondents following the mandatory use of the child car seats in private vehicles from January.

Its chairman Datuk Suret Singh said that affordability must be addressed first, before it is enforced next year.

Lee said other than addressing the affordability of CRS, the government must also organise an intensive campaign on the importance of using child care seats.

"The ministry, with the Communications and Multimedia Ministry and respective agencies must go all out to promote the importance of CRS. The purchase of CRS was not meant to cause hardship to the people, but for the interest, safety, and wellbeing of children onboard a vehicle."

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong told the Dewan Rakyat that no summonses would be issued to parents who did not put their children in the CRS until the end of the year despite the Jan 1 mandatory ruling.

Instead, Wee said the government would be focusing on the approach to educate, advocate, and advise on the use of CRS while Miros embarks on a more comprehensive study on it.

Lee, who lauded the move, said it was necessary due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The government should have a date for the enforcement, after the extension ends. The government should be serious about enforcement, but of course it must be done at a time when the government has able to convince the public that they have done their very best and CRS is more affordable." - NST