66 The influence of the child restraint usage related policies among parents in four cities of China

Background

Child restraint systems (CRS) usage in China has been increasing in recent year mainly due to an adopted legal framework. Since 2013, the law related to CRS has applied to several provinces and cities; and the National Minor Protection Law (NMPL) in 2021, which acts as a national level recommendation policy that stands as a big win among the national and international road safety community. Still, the mortality toll of child passengers aged under ages 18 account for 30% of road traffic crash deaths among children in China.

Objective

To showcase how the promotion of the behavioral change to ultimate increased usage of CRS across the country through a strong advocacy campaign and how the policies influence the parents’ behavior in those four cities.

Policy Analysis

The policy approach and the strategies used on this advocacy campaign entailed a combination of research to understand myths and perceptions around CRS usage, media monitoring on the current usage trends public advocacy and media advocacy targeted to break down the myths associated with a lack of CRS usage as well as to increase knowledge through best practice arguments; and a myriad of events for decisionmakers and op-eds and articles, which call for the implementation of the adopted legal framework.

Policy Implications and Conclusions

For national level, in 2021 child passenger usage was written into the National Minor Protection Law, and into the Chinese Children Development Outline. For the provincial level, up to now, 5 provinces have the CRS into the Minor Protect Law; 6 provinces have CRS into the law related to the traffic safety. With the police, two cities have an increase in having CSR. However, the CRS usage needs the enforcement of the law.