Who is to blame, sunroofs or parents?
Published: 05:06 PM,Jun 12,2023 | EDITED : 09:06 AM,Jun 13,2023
While on the road, we must have come across a car with sunroof open and children gleefully poking out their heads and sometimes half of their bodies dangling outside the top of the vehicles. This is a common sight especially in Dhofar as the good weather of khareef season kicks in.
According to the laws of physics, a child who is halfway out of the sunroof can collide with the front edge of the sunroof due to the strong and sudden braking. Since the child’s body has not yet gone through its growth process, such an encounter can cause severe pressure on the chest, ribs, lungs and even the heart and cause irreparable damage to the child.
“Uneducated or educated but unaware parents are to be blamed. Parent need to be careful about it and failure to adhere to safety measures, the phenomenon might lead to deadly injuries to their children,” Ali al Barwani, road safety expert, said, explaining that such behaviours is widely noticed during khareef season in Dhofar.
“There is a traffic law which mandates driver make sure children are in a proper child car seat and also making sure that second row for passengers need to wear seat belts. There is a need to take note of this and deviating from such law can lead to dangerous circumstances,” Al Barwani said.
In this regard, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has warned about the hazards of road commuters who open sunroofs noting that passengers, especially young children, are exposed to extremely high risk of severe injury and death in the event of a collision or even a sudden turn or stop. “We should all be responsible and not to allow our children to stick out of the sunroofs of the vehicles which can lead to dangerous event in an event of any accident,” ROP official said.
Like in many countries, many in Oman too have undoubtedly faced such scenes. Children’s parents think that by doing this, they will bring joy and happiness to their children, but the reality is different.
“As parents, we are always happy when we see our children enjoy but we need to know that with ignorance, we can create a disaster that cannot be compensated for in any way by allowing them to stick out of the sunroofs,” Sulaiman Mohammed, a parent said.
He said that parents should not be deceived by the good weather such as the one we have in Dhofar during khareef season to allow them to do so. “We don’t want their happiness to turn into sadness,” Sulaiman, who goes to Salalah almost every year during khareef season, said.
According to the laws of physics, a child who is halfway out of the sunroof can collide with the front edge of the sunroof due to the strong and sudden braking. Since the child’s body has not yet gone through its growth process, such an encounter can cause severe pressure on the chest, ribs, lungs and even the heart and cause irreparable damage to the child.
“Uneducated or educated but unaware parents are to be blamed. Parent need to be careful about it and failure to adhere to safety measures, the phenomenon might lead to deadly injuries to their children,” Ali al Barwani, road safety expert, said, explaining that such behaviours is widely noticed during khareef season in Dhofar.
“There is a traffic law which mandates driver make sure children are in a proper child car seat and also making sure that second row for passengers need to wear seat belts. There is a need to take note of this and deviating from such law can lead to dangerous circumstances,” Al Barwani said.
In this regard, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has warned about the hazards of road commuters who open sunroofs noting that passengers, especially young children, are exposed to extremely high risk of severe injury and death in the event of a collision or even a sudden turn or stop. “We should all be responsible and not to allow our children to stick out of the sunroofs of the vehicles which can lead to dangerous event in an event of any accident,” ROP official said.
Like in many countries, many in Oman too have undoubtedly faced such scenes. Children’s parents think that by doing this, they will bring joy and happiness to their children, but the reality is different.
“As parents, we are always happy when we see our children enjoy but we need to know that with ignorance, we can create a disaster that cannot be compensated for in any way by allowing them to stick out of the sunroofs,” Sulaiman Mohammed, a parent said.
He said that parents should not be deceived by the good weather such as the one we have in Dhofar during khareef season to allow them to do so. “We don’t want their happiness to turn into sadness,” Sulaiman, who goes to Salalah almost every year during khareef season, said.