New regulation for the use of child car seats came into effect on 18 September 2006. From this date, you must use the correct car seat for your child. For full details of the new regulations, including exemptions and penalties for not complying with the law, please visit The Think Road Safety Website.
For further details on the new regulations, information on purchasing and fitting child car seats plus contact details for road safety officers in your locality visit www.childcarseats.org.uk.
The safety of children in cars
Young children in this country are very safe when travelling in cars. This is because nearly all of them use child safety seats and because these seats are supremely effective. Older children (up to 12 years) have not been as well protected, leading to the law change.
Protecting children in cars is built on three basic steps:
- Ensuring that a child seat is used;
- Ensuring that the child seat is properly fitted to the car;
- Using the best possible seat.
The AA Trust’s leaflet “Loose in the car (PDF 75K)” tackles the first two points, graphically showing the effects of non-use and misfitting in crash tests conducted with dummies at just 19 mph. These crash tests were based on real-life incidents which had led to children being killed while travelling in cars. They show what can happen to children sitting or kneeling without belts, or travelling on an adult's lap. It also shows what happens when child restraints are either not properly fitted to a car, or do not fit the car.
For many years the AA Trust was also involved in a pan-European child restraint testing consortium, and the results of these tests, which show how effective child restraints are (albeit in only one model of car) can now be downloaded:
Euro Test 2004: Child Restraint Systems PDF (113K)
Euro Test 2003: Child Restraint Systems PDF (626K)
Fitting the seat properly is critical. Some seats don’t fit in some cars. Some seats can be so heavy, or so difficult to get in and out of the car that there is a temptation not to use them. The best manufactured, most expensive, safest seat which does not fit a car will be less effective than a lesser seat which does fit. And any restraint is always better than no restraint at all.
Child restraints and airbags
NEVER use rear facing infant carriers on a front seat where a passenger airbag is fitted. An airbag explosion can kill a baby
