A new online educational resource on child restraints (baby capsules, car seats and booster seats) has been released by driver training provider Fleetcoach.
The child restraint course was initially designed for Oranga Tamariki (Ministry for Children) as a health and safety module for their employees.
Fleetcoach has decided to make the course freely available to the public as the need to check that children’s car seats are correctly installed extends to all New Zealanders.
Fleetcoach chief operating officer Craig Cockerton urges parents and caregivers to take a look at the course. He also appeals to business owners, particularly those in early learning education, to share the module with their employees.
“This to support Kiwi parents and anyone in the business of caring for children to feel confident that they are doing all they can to ensure children are as safe as possible every time they get into the car,” Cockerton says.
Under New Zealand law, all children under seven years of age must use an approved child restraint appropriate for their age and size. With more than 2,000 serious road-related crashes in New Zealand each year, many involving children in cars, Cockerton says this educational initiative is also an important contribution to Road to Zero, New Zealand’s road safety strategy.
“The Road to Zero vision is zero deaths and serious injuries on New Zealand roads. We believe we’ve all got a part to play, and what better place to start than by ensuring our children are safe?”
The course features video content created by Waka Kotahi. Lauren Cooke, National Education and Marketing Manager from Waka Kotahi, says they were pleased when Fleetcoach approached them to use their content.
“It’s vital that adults transporting children in their vehicle use child restraints that are correctly installed. It is great to see the content being used in this new initiative.”
Oranga Tamariki spokesperson, Anne-Marie Sullivan, reports that the course is already proving invaluable for their team.
“The new module is a great addition to the training we provide our staff, whose top priority is the safety of the tamariki in our care. As the Ministry for Children, we fully support this resource being made available to the public and encourage everyone to do their bit to keep our tamariki safe.”
The interactive course has been designed to include voice support for those with low literacy thanks to Hamilton-based text-to-speech platform Voxcoda, who generously gifted their services.
This is the first in several free resources Fleetcoach is making available to the public. All with the goal of having a wider, positive impact on road safety in Aotearoa.
Businesses will be able to integrate the child restraints course as a free learning object into their Learning Management Systems (LMS) to spread awareness among their staff. Individuals or companies without internal LMS systems can also access the training material for free. To access the course, visit https://www.fleetcoach.com/share/using-child-restraints.
