daveza
Honorary Master
http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/family/parenting/buckle-up-your-kids-or-go-to-jail-1.1252691
Cape motorists could face jail if they don’t buckle up their children while on the road.
The province and the City of Cape Town want to criminally charge and prosecute motorists, including parents, caught with children not wearing seatbelts.
In cases of car crashes where there are severe injuries or death, the charges could include jail time.
In 80 percent of car crash cases treated at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, the children were not wearing seatbelts.
CRACK DOWN ON DRIVERS
Transport MEC Robin Carlisle wants prosecutors to crack down on parents and other drivers who “fail to protect children” by buckling them up as the law requires.
“Drivers - and this includes parents - who are criminally negligent with regard to their children must understand that they could the full force of criminal law,” Carlisle said.
“More children are dying prematurely in car accidents than from any other cause.”
“Do parents leave their sanity behind when they climb into a car with their kids?”
“Between 200 and 300 children are treated each year at the Red Cross Children's Hospital for serious injuries sustained in crashes - and over 80 percent were not restrained in any way. It shows how absolutely clueless SA drivers are.
In cases where the state could prove severe negligence - like allowing a child to stand on a front seat on a highway, for example - the parent or driver could still only receive a fine, but could then carry a criminal record thereafter.
Second, in cases in which children who were not strapped in are killed or seriously injured, the actual traffic violation of not buckling a child in would become incidental. Instead, a parent or driver could be charged with one of several criminal charges: “Reckless or Negligent Driving”, “Culpable Homicide” or even - in particularly egregious cases - “Murder”.
Spurred on by the conviction of Humphreys - we are going to see more charges of murder instead of culpable homicide.
As for kids standing on the front seat, .... this legislation is way overdue.
Cape motorists could face jail if they don’t buckle up their children while on the road.
The province and the City of Cape Town want to criminally charge and prosecute motorists, including parents, caught with children not wearing seatbelts.
In cases of car crashes where there are severe injuries or death, the charges could include jail time.
In 80 percent of car crash cases treated at the Red Cross Children’s Hospital, the children were not wearing seatbelts.
CRACK DOWN ON DRIVERS
Transport MEC Robin Carlisle wants prosecutors to crack down on parents and other drivers who “fail to protect children” by buckling them up as the law requires.
“Drivers - and this includes parents - who are criminally negligent with regard to their children must understand that they could the full force of criminal law,” Carlisle said.
“More children are dying prematurely in car accidents than from any other cause.”
“Do parents leave their sanity behind when they climb into a car with their kids?”
“Between 200 and 300 children are treated each year at the Red Cross Children's Hospital for serious injuries sustained in crashes - and over 80 percent were not restrained in any way. It shows how absolutely clueless SA drivers are.
In cases where the state could prove severe negligence - like allowing a child to stand on a front seat on a highway, for example - the parent or driver could still only receive a fine, but could then carry a criminal record thereafter.
Second, in cases in which children who were not strapped in are killed or seriously injured, the actual traffic violation of not buckling a child in would become incidental. Instead, a parent or driver could be charged with one of several criminal charges: “Reckless or Negligent Driving”, “Culpable Homicide” or even - in particularly egregious cases - “Murder”.
Spurred on by the conviction of Humphreys - we are going to see more charges of murder instead of culpable homicide.
As for kids standing on the front seat, .... this legislation is way overdue.
