BMW Malaysia promotes child car safety; offers subsidised seats

KUALA LUMPUR: The safety of infants or toddlers sitting in a car is a critical thing which one must not ignore. Understanding its importance, governments around the world are making the use of child car seats mandatory. A recent example is Thailand, where children under six years of age must be secured in either a child safety seat as per the new amendments to its Road Traffic Act 1979. 

Well, there is still no such compulsion in Malaysia, and as a result, Malaysian parents are not using child seats. One of the reasons for doing so is the cost of buying a child seat. 

To address this issue, BMW Group Malaysia has come forward with its NEXTStep Subsidy programme for child car seats. The company advocates the children's safety in cars and thus offers fully subsidised child car seats to parents belonging to the B40 group. For this cause, it has teamed up with its long-term partner, Safe 'n Sound.

Here are the key aspects of the BMW Malaysia NEXTStep Subsidy programme :

Applicability: Families expecting a child or with children weighing up to 36 kg and have a monthly income of less than RM 3,500.

How to check eligibility: Families can check their eligibility by registering themselves on the Safe 'n Sound website until May 22, 2022. Those who are eligible will receive a notification via WhatsApp. 

Seat selection: For eligible families, a suitable seat will be chosen based on their child's weight, height, and vehicle specifications.

How to get the seat: Parents in the Klang Valley will be informed about the seat's pickup date, time, and location, while parents outside the Klang Valley will be notified of the seat's delivery status.

The range of available child car seats is as follows -

Seat type	Suitability	Price
snskidz Ace	From birth to 13 kg	RM 199
snskidz Whizz ISOFIX seat	From birth to 18 kg	RM 499
snskidz Sport seat	From birth to 18 kg	RM 279
snskidz Proto seat (ISOFIX optional)	Between 13 kg to 36 kg	RM 399
mifold booster seat	Between 15 kg to 36 kg	RM 199

“Although we have placed a strong emphasis on child car seats in recent years with our many programmes and partnerships to advocate for the use of these seats, we recognise that the issue of low uptake must be tackled beyond verbal advocacy and partial subsidies, especially within communities that are in need in a time like this. With the NEXTStep Subsidy Programme, we aim to continue making child safety seats even more accessible to parents who can use a helping hand,” said MD of BMW Group Malaysia Hans de Visser.

Funded with donations earlier made by BMW Financial Services Malaysia, this programme is a part of the BMW 360° initiative, under which it has delivered more than 300 subsidised child car seats since the end of 2019. 

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