Volvia's report Child Safety in Cars 2021 is now available in English

Volvia's annual Child Safety in Cars report is for the first time available in English. It provides an in-depth overview of conditions relating to children's safety in vehicles in Sweden. It also explains why and when it is important for children to use child restraints (CRS). For example, the risk of being seriously injured or dying can be reduced fivefold if children travel rear-facing until they are 4-5 years old. It is also important that older children who travel forward-facing use a child restraint system up to the age of 10- 12, since this can reduce the risk of serious injuries to the head, neck or abdominal organs.

The level of knowledge of parents is key to ensuring that children receive the protection and adaptations they need. Through our continuous surveys, we can see that the lack of knowledge has remained consistent over the years – which is indicative of a continued need for clear and consistent information geared towards parents.

Volvia has been working on various road safety issues for around 60 years, and on children’s safety specifically since 2009, which is when we recognised the need to more clearly address the fact that children have as much right as adults to travel safely on the road. The current Swedish recommendations regarding age have spread all across the globe and are based on many years of research carried out by various Swedish operators, including Volvo and our own Head of Traffic Research Irene Isaksson Hellman.