While the vast majority of Chinese parents agree on the necessity of using child safety seats in their cars, fewer than 20 percent have actually used them, according to a recent poll.

The survey was conducted by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, which talked to 4,375 parents with children under 13 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jinan and Chongqing.

Statistics show that more than 18,500 children under the age of 14 die annually in traffic accidents in China. The low rate of child safety seat use is an important factor in that number.

Misconceptions reign among Chinese parents, some who responded to the survey by saying children are safer in their parents' laps than in car seats.

Some parents surveyed said child safety seats were not necessary because they were only traveling short distances and moving at slow speeds, while others said the seats were too difficult to use, too bulky or of questionable quality.

Unlike the United States and many E.U. countries, China does not have regulations about the mandatory use of seat belts or child safety seats.

Legal Daily quoted Zhou Qing, professor of automotive engineering at Tsinghua University, as saying that formal legislation about child safety seats would help protect children in traffic.

Between the ages of 4 and 12, children should always use a booster seat, said Lin Miao, head of forensics at the China Automotive Technology and Research Center:

"The booster seat allows the child to properly use safety belts in the car by adjusting the child’s position; otherwise, the belt will go over the child’s throat, and if the belt gets pulled during an accident, it can strangle the child."Zhou said.

World Health Organization statistical analysis also shows that the use of child safety seats can reduce traffic accident mortality by 70 percent.