RoSPA Press Office : Press Release

July 17, 2006
PARENTS URGED TO PREPARE NOW FOR NEW CHILD SEAT LAW

The new law making it compulsory for children to use child car seats or booster seats was welcomed today by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents as a positive move for safety.

But Kevin Clinton, RoSPA Head of Road Safety, urged parents to act now to ensure they had the correct seats for their children rather than leave things until September when the law comes into force.

“This will be a major change for many parents,” Kevin Clinton said. “They need to look at the proposals as soon as they can rather than leaving things until the last minute.

“This law will make children much safer in cars and should lead to a reduction in deaths and injuries on our roads.”

To help people understand the new regulations, and anything else they need to know about child car seats, RoSPA has a website www.childcarseats.org.uk which is already attracting 2,500 people a day.

From September 18:

• Children aged between 0 and 11 years of age, but less than 135 cms (4ft 5in) in height, must use an appropriate child restraint when travelling in the front of motor vehicles.
• Children aged between 3 and 11 years of age, but less than 135 cms in height, must use an appropriate child restraint when travelling in the rear of motor vehicles, provided there is a seat belt in place to secure the child restraint.
• Children aged 12 or more, or those who are more than 135 cms tall, must wear an adult seat belt in the rear of a motor vehicle (or they can use an appropriate child restraint).
• The use of rear-facing child restraints where there is an active front air bag (unless the bag is designed not to cause injury to a child in a rear facing seat if it inflates) is prohibited.
• Children under 3 cannot be carried in the rear of a motor vehicle unless they are in an appropriate child restraint.