RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

March 29, 2006
BELT LAWS TIGHTENED FOR CHILDREN AND COACH PASSENGERS

The new law making it compulsory for children to use child car seats or booster seats will be explained to experts at a special briefing session on Friday, organised by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

The seminar will also cover new regulations requiring all coach, bus and minibus passengers over three-years-old to wear seatbelts where fitted.

All the changes come into force in September and RoSPA will outline them at the Thistle Marble Arch Hotel, London, on Friday (March 31).

The event, sponsored by Norwich Union, is for professionals such as road safety officers, bus and coach operators, teaching organisations, trading standards officers, social work departments, emergency services, health care workers, insurers, community transport groups, car manufacturers and child car seat makers and retailers.

Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, said: “The new laws will affect individuals and groups. They will mean significant changes for many people and our delegates will be among those trying to explain the changes to members of the public and organisations.

“We need to promote what is happening as widely as possible so that parents in particular are not caught out. In the past, most children in cars have only had to be in an appropriate child restraint ‘if available’. That loophole will disappear in September, and children will not be able to wear an ordinary seatbelt in a car until they are over 4ft 5in, with very few exceptions.

“While some people have already picked up on the situation for children in cars, many are unaware about the changes for passengers in minibuses, buses and coaches. Operators will be required to tell passengers that seatbelts must be worn.

“Easter and summer holidays will soon be with us. It would be good if people got into the habit of wearing seatbelts on coaches even before the law comes in because they will be much safer as a result.

“Parents need to be thinking now if they will need to buy new car seats for their children.”

For more information see:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_611257.hcsp