St John Ambulance Chief Executive Officer, Matt Cannon has warned the travelling public to take precautions and put safety first by wearing seatbelts while in vehicles.
This comes about in response to a major road incident that occurred this afternoon at the Somare Circuit, Waigani where children sitting in an open trailer utility, were thrown off the tray at the impact of the collision.
Cannon said at around 15:57pm a call was made by members of the public to 111 emergency regarding this major accident.
SJA reported that a utility vehicle carrying a family coming back from the village has swerved. It is understood that nine children in the tray were ejected from the vehicle. All the children were transported to Port Moresby General Hospital. At this stage, one child is in a critical condition.
Cannon said Somare Circuit, Waigani where the incident took place is a known hotspot for accidents like this.
He said this is a very timely reminder that transporting people in the tray of a vehicle is allowable by law but is very unsafe.
“Drivers transporting unrestrained passengers must exercise a very high degree of care and travel slowly. You can save lives by wearing a seatbelt. It is law in PNG that a person in a vehicle must wear seatbelt if it is available,” Cannon said.
He sternly said there is simply no excuse for not wearing a seatbelt in a passenger vehicle with seatbelts fitted and grossly unsafe not wearing a seatbelt.
“We often seen a spate of serious accidents around Christmas time. Often people with the most severe injuries are not wearing seatbelts. The message from St John is, if you have a seatbelt, wear it and don’t travel in a tray of a vehicle because it is never safe,” Cannon added.