The Korea Transportation Safety Authority announced on the 5th that it will provide 1,200 car seats free of charge to households with children under the age of 7, in collaboration with the Korea Child Safety Foundation.
The supply includes 200 seats for infants (under 3 years old: born between 2020 and 2022) and 1,000 junior seats (ages 4 to 7: born between 2016 and 2019).
Eligible recipients are selected based on priority criteria among households with children born from 2016 to this year, including those covered by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority’s automobile accident victim support program, basic livelihood security recipients, near-poverty class, and low-income single-parent families.
The application period is from August 5 to August 19. Detailed information on how to apply and the distribution schedule can be found in the announcements section on the Korea Child Safety Foundation’s website.
If selected as a document submission candidate, applicants must mail the relevant supporting documents to the Korea Child Safety Foundation. After document review, car seats can be received around mid-October.
Since 2011, the Authority has been operating a free car seat distribution program with the Korea Child Safety Foundation to alleviate the financial burden of purchasing car seats for low-income vulnerable groups and socially disadvantaged individuals, and to reduce child traffic accident damages.
Meanwhile, according to the annual Traffic Culture Index survey conducted by the Authority, the car seat usage rate in 2021 was 65.12% on highways and 53.14% on urban general roads.
Wearing a car seat is essential for preventing child traffic accident injuries. A simulation experiment conducted by the Authority showed that when a 6-year-old child wears a car seat, the likelihood of severe combined injuries decreases by more than 20 percentage points compared to wearing an adult seatbelt.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
