PARENTS are putting young children at risk of serious injury by failing to properly secure them in car seats, according to police.
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Wodonga officers recently finished a two week operation targeting school zones.
Acting Sergeant Owen Clarke said children were able to take their arms out of five point harnesses.
The top part of lap sash seats were also improperly installed, exposing children to danger.
“It can turn a non-injury collision into a serious injury collision, or a minor injury collision into a very serious injury collision,” he said.
“There has been a very complacent attitude to people wearing seatbelts.
“The sash is designed to stop the top half of a person being thrown forward violently.
“It also limits the chance of people’s heads striking anything else.”
Acting Sergeant Clarke said police had had a visible presence at school crossings, which led to a change in driver behaviour.
“The crossing supervisors pointed out that drivers were far better behaved,” he said.
“It indicates that people know the right thing to do and they’re not doing it.
“We are going to focus over Christmas and at the start of the new school year on children who aren’t restrained properly.
“It can be quite expensive for parents.”
Police are also warning people to plan their journeys over Christmas.
Acting Sergeant Clarke said a crash on the Murray Valley Highway near Ludlow’s Reserve last week showed how a lapse in concentration could have serious consequences.
A 78-year-old woman narrowly avoided a head-on collision with a loaded semi-trailer about 3.10pm on Thursday.
The truck driver quickly manoeuvred the vehicle which caused the car to hit the side of the truck, shearing off the passenger side.
“The potential for disaster there was astronomical,” Acting Sergeant Clarke said.
“We thought it would have been a fatal crash when we arrived.
“The driver wrote off the car and walked away from the crash and was lucky not to be dead.”
