06.09.2006

Parents warned - be aware of new laws on child car seats

Road safety officers are urging drivers to make sure they are ready for a change in the law this month on the safety of children in cars.

The Local Authority Road Safety Officers' Association (LARSOA) is concerned about the lack of awareness of the new child car seat laws and how effective they will be.

The association is calling on police to enforce the new laws to protect children and on the government to tighten the seatbelt laws even further to give the best level of protection to children travelling in minibuses, buses and coaches.

The new laws demand children up to 135cms (approximately 4ft 5ins) use the appropriate child restraint, for example a car seat or booster cushion, where seatbelts are fitted in cars. But there are exemptions in the law which means vehicles such as taxis, minibuses and coaches do not require the use of car seats or boosters and the requirement is for children to use the adult seatbelt provided.

LARSOA Chairman, Simon Ettinghausen, says: "We know the government is looking to tighten the laws governing seatbelts and child car seats even further and is planning to consult with private hire and coach companies. We urge the Department for Transport to make this a priority."

He adds: "It is vital we consider the safety of children as paramount and protect them when they are travelling in any vehicle. These young people deserve to be given the best possible care and as seatbelts are designed for adults, after all, it is to ensure the child's safety in the event of a collision that the law is being tightened.

"We encourage the police to work with road safety officers on joint educational activities to make drivers more aware of the new laws. We are sure most parents want to comply with the law to keep their children safe but we call on the police to enforce the law with the hard core of drivers who don't comply."

The new laws come into force on Monday 18 th September. Seatbelt wearing is already compulsory in minibuses under 2.54 tonnes unladen weight and from 18 th September seated passengers over 14 will have to use seatbelts where they are fitted in all buses and coaches. However, legislation requiring children three to 13 years to use seat belts or child restraints (if available) have not yet been introduced.

LARSOA spokesman, David Frost, explains: "This new law is a step in the right direction but we would like to see the law covering other transport sooner rather than later.

"We are aware there is an amount of backlash against the new regulations with older children under 135cms not wanting to go back to using a booster seat if they have been using an adult belt. Parents may be concerned about how to enforce this but it is important people understand the consequences of not using the correct restraint.

"Children are not small scale adults. Their heads weigh up to a third of their whole body weight and it takes many years of development before they reach adult proportions so they can be terribly injured in a collision if the seatbelt is not in the right place."

A child who is 140cms tall is over the height benchmark and may use an adult seatbelt even if they are only seven years old but an 11-year-old under 135cms must still use a booster seat. Once a child reaches 12, if he or she is still under 135cms they are over the age threshold so they may use an adult belt.

These new changes in the law update regulations dating back to 1993 when many more cars on the road did not have rear seatbelts. Most cars now do, so parents can now benefit by always using child car seats and boosters.

The new regulations also say that rear-facing baby seats must not be used in a seat protected by a frontal air-bag unless it has been de-activated manually or automatically and children under three years must use the child restraint appropriate for their weight.

Stephen Ladyman, the Road Safety Minister, has said it is estimated these changes could prevent over 2,000 child deaths or injuries nationally each year.

Further detailed information can be found on the Department for Transport Think! website at www.thinkroadsafety.gov.uk or by calling the free helpline on 08000 327252.

 FACTFILE

• Children under 135cms and under 12 years old must use the appropriate child car seat in a vehicle from 18 th September 2006.

• Drivers are legally responsible for ensuring children under 14 use seat belts or child restraints in cars and goods vehicles. Those 14 years and above are legally responsible for themselves.

• Rear-facing baby seats must not be used in a seat protected by a frontal air-bag unless it has been deactivated.

• Children under three must use the child restraint appropriate for their weight in all cars, van and goods vehicles.

• There are three exceptions which allow children three years to 135cms to travel in the rear and use and adult belt and these are:
1. in a licensed taxi or private hire vehicle if the right child restraint is not available
2. for an unexpected necessity over a short distance
3. where two occupied child seats in the rear prevent the fitting of a third.

• The penalties for non-compliance are a £30 fixed penalty notice. If a case goes to court the maximum fine is £500. In 2004 there were some 200,000 fixed penalty notices and 5,000 cases went to court.

• If a car travelling at just 30mph comes to an abrupt halt the occupants weigh between 30 and 60 times their own weight. This means a small child weighing around two stones would weigh between 60 and 120 stones so the impact if they are not correctly restrained can be devastating.

For media enquiries please contact Alison Ferst at DTW on 01287 610404 or 07779 435794.

ABOUT LARSOA

• LARSOA is a national road safety organisation representing road safety officers (RSOs) employed in local government across the UK.

• LARSOA represents 185 of the 200 eligible local authorities across the UK, assisting RSOs to fulfil their statutory role to reduce the number and severity of road casualties through education, training and publicity programmes.

• LARSOA publishes an up-to-date round-up of road safety news from across the UK on its website www.larsoa.org.uk .

• LARSOA also aims to influence national debate - government policy and action together with public opinion. The association works to achieve national recognition for road safety issues, commissions research into behaviour which contributes to road collisions and develops national road safety campaigns.

• The association assists in identifying achievable national targets to reduce the number of collisions on the country's roads.