The Ministry of Justice will submit a bill providing for the increase in the fines for drivers who transport children up to the age of 12 without a car seat. Viorel Bulimaga, secretary of the commission for road safety of the National Patrolling Inspectorate, has told IPN that the bill was drafted by a group of specialists of a number of ministries. It stipulates that the penalty for the absence of the child seat will be equal to the fine for the nonuse of safety belt – 300 to 400 lei.

Viorel Bulimaga said currently the fine set by the Government by amendments made to the Traffic Regulations in July varies between 20 and 60 lei.

Veaceslav Plamadeala, head of the Emergency Admissions Section of the Chisinau Children’s Hospital “V. Ignatenko”, said that children with different injuries sustained in road accidents are brought daily to the hospital. Such situations can be avoided if increased attention is paid to the protection of the children in the street and in traffic, and also if the fines for drivers are increased.

According to tests done by Romanian specialists, in a head-on collision between two cars, the dynamic speed of a child increases 20 times. Thus, no parent will manage to hold the child in their arms during an accident, even a less serious one. The use of child seats reduces child mortality in traffic accidents by 70% and injuries by 60%. Under the Moldovan legislation, the children must travel only on the back seat and only in car seat.

The National Patrolling Inspectorate said the 445 accidents involving children that happened on the national roads so far this year resulted in 15 deaths.