2-year-old, sitting in mother’s lap, dies after car’s airbag opens

A freak road accident in Kerala resulted in the death of a two-year-old girl who was travelling with her mother, police said. The girl, who was sitting in her mother’s lap, died of suffocation after the airbags opened following an accident. The incident occurred when the family’s car collided with a tanker lorry in the Kottakkal-Padaparambu area.
“The car collided with a tanker lorry and the airbag deployed suddenly under the impact of the collision,” police said.
According to police reports, the child was sitting on her mother’s lap in the front seat when the collision occurred, causing the airbag to deploy suddenly. The force of the airbag pressed her face into it, leading to suffocation.
While the child tragically lost her life, the other four passengers in the vehicle, including her mother, sustained only minor injuries. Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The heartbreaking incident has raised concerns about the safety of children in cars, particularly regarding the use of airbags when young children are present.
The number of road accidents in India rose by an alarming 12% last year, according to a report by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. According to the data, 19 Indians die in road accidents every hour.
Yesterday, nine people were killed and 24 others injured after a bus collided with a Hyva truck on National Highway 30 in Madhya Pradesh’s Maihar district.
The report by the roadways ministry showed that 53 road accidents occur every hour in the country, and most of those involved are young adults.
“Young adults in the age group of 18 – 45 years accounted for 66.5 per cent of victims during 2022,” the report said, adding that people in working age group of 18 – 60 years constitute 83.4 per cent of total road accident fatalities.