Prevention starts with a ‘click’. Through the Be Quick To Click initiative, UCT is educating and empowering families to fight back against road trauma by buckling up and keeping children safe.
Cape Town, South Africa (27 April 2026) – Imagine a safety campaign with the potential to save countless lives – especially those of our youngest and most vulnerable.
Road accidents are the single biggest killer of healthy children in South Africa. Children are particularly vulnerable to long-term brain damage, however, the use of a seatbelt or car seat significantly lowers the chance of fatal injury.
A Campaign Protecting Children’s Brains from Car Accidents
The Be Quick To Click campaign by the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) African Brain Child (ABC) research institute, affiliated to UCT’s Neuroscience Institute, endeavours to educate the public about the importance of buckling up children and babies in motor vehicles.
Researchers based at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital see thousands of horrific traumatic brain injuries in kids every year, the majority of which would have been entirely prevented by a seatbelt or car seat.
Other concerning stats revealed that juvenile offenders in our country who go on to re-commit crimes are more likely to have suffered a traumatic head injury during their development.
“The data shows that of children coming into Red Cross with a severe traumatic brain injury, a staggering 96% of them were not buckled in! If we could encourage this one simple behavioural change, it would have a massive social, economic and societal impact,” Hayley Tomes from UCT’s Neuroscience Institute tells us.
Launching the Seat Belt Convincer
The team behind this life-saving initiative has already run a successful car seat drive and, excitingly, recently launched a Seat Belt Convincer – a demonstration produced in collaboration with the Cape Town Science Centre.
The Seatbelt Convincer was officially launched on 18 March 2026 at the University of Cape Town’s Neuroscience Institute, bringing together partners from research, health care, education, and local government who share a commitment to protecting children on our roads.
Attendees got to witness and experience the Seatbelt Convincer, a simulator that allows participants to experience the force of a collision while safely secured by a seatbelt.
Although the simulator travels at only 6 km/h, it powerfully demonstrates the crash forces a passenger would experience at everyday driving speeds. By physically feeling the sudden stop and the restraint of the seatbelt, participants gain a deeper understanding of how seatbelts protect the body during a collision.
This interactive exhibit is designed to reach thousands of learners who visit the Science Centre each year, transforming road safety education into an engaging and memorable experience.
Strengthening a Culture of Road Safety
Developers and researchers hope that through this interactive approach, children will be encouraged to become advocates for their own safety – reminding parents, caregivers, and drivers to be quick to click before every journey.
The launch of the Seatbelt Convincer marks only the beginning of a broader effort to improve seatbelt use and protect children and families on South Africa’s roads.
Road safety is a shared responsibility. Through partnerships with educators, policymakers, community organisations, and the public, The Be Quick To Click team hopes to expand the reach of this initiative and continue building a culture where wearing a seatbelt is automatic.
Sources: Linked Above
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