Road fatalities have been identified as the leading cause of injury-related death among children in South Africa. In response, the non-profit organisation Wheel Well is intensifying its campaign for urgent regulatory reform and public action to protect the country’s most vulnerable road users.

According to Wheel Well founder, Peggie Mars, the most critical risk area remains scholar transport. Many children are transported in overloaded vehicles that lack basic safety features such as dedicated seats and appropriate restraints.

Peggie Mars, founder of Wheel Well, advises road users to protect children’s safety. Photo supplied 

The prevalence of this practice means that thousands of children travel daily without effective protection, turning the essential journey to school into a perilous trip.

“The thing that keeps me going and the reason why I started this is that child road deaths are preventable. It need not be that our children die on our roads every single day,” said Mars.

Wheel Well’s mission extends beyond policy, placing strong emphasis on public education to address the widespread misuse of restraints in private vehicles. Mars notes that common parental errors include using a seat that is unsuitable for the child’s size and age, or installing it incorrectly.

To address the affordability barrier, Wheel Well runs its flagship Car Seats for Kids initiative in partnership with Supa Quick, refurbishing and redistributing donated child restraints to families who cannot afford new ones.

“We need to look at our child’s height, weight, and age before choosing the correct car seat. And if it’s not installed correctly, we cannot guarantee that the seat will keep your child safe during a crash,” said Mars.

In addition to practical initiatives like the Hello Beanies project, which provides reflective beanies for child pedestrians, Wheel Well is actively lobbying government bodies for institutional reform.

The organisation urges communities to support these policy changes and donate unused, unexpired car seats to help ensure that every child has a safer commute.

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OFM News/Refilwe Bekane mvh